HOW IT ALL BEGAN
by kathyde
Summary: A look into the lives of Cal and Gillian before they met, when they met, their relationship then how it should have ended
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1**_

Zoe Landau walked out of the bathroom early one morning. She had been crying for the past ten minutes and wondered why her boyfriend Cal Lightman hadn't come in to see what was wrong. She glanced over at the bed and rolled her eyes as she heard his light snores.

"Cal…" she called out softly, he snorted but never woke. "Cal!" she said louder as she slipped into her underclothes.

She was fastening her bra when he glanced up from the pillow. "Yeah," he grumbled before he leered at her sexily. "Ready to go at it again?"

Zoe looked down angrily as she slipped on her jeans. "No, I think we've managed to go at it one too many times."

Cal frowned at the tone of anger in her voice as he sat up in bed and blinked in confusion. "What's at supposed to mean?"

Zoe threw her sweatshirt on over her head and as she pulled it down she leveled him a gaze. "I'm pregnant!"

Cal's sleep addled brain was taking a few seconds to process what he had just heard and he sat there quietly as he felt the shock of her statement wash over him and his mind began to race.

Zoe snorted derisively and grabbed for her book bag. "I should've known!"

Cal finally looked up from his musings when the door slammed shut behind her as she stormed from his apartment. "Bloody hell!" he exclaimed as he jumped from the bed and raced for the door. The second he turned the handle it registered to him that he was completely naked. He rolled his eyes then raced to the bathroom. As he began to pee, he glanced down and saw the pregnancy test sitting on the edge of the sink. "Damn!" he sighed when he saw the truth of the results.

As he washed his hands, he glanced at himself in the mirror. "What the fuck do I do now?" He frowned and shook his head as he reached for a towel then looked back at his reflection. "Step up to the plate Lightman! For once in your miserable life, do the right thing!" he said aloud as he gave himself a pep talk.

He raced around the room looking for a clean pair of underwear. In an instant, he decided to go commando and threw on a pair of dirty jeans and a clean t-shirt. On his way out the door, he grabbed for a light jacket.

He wasn't worried about catching up to Zoe as he knew her schedule and knew she would never miss a class. He jogged a few blocks then hesitated briefly before he easily spotted her across the courtyard. Her shoulders were slumped and Cal frowned as he started to run to catch up to her.

"Zoe!"

He saw her body react the second she heard him and when she turned around he slammed to a stop. Tears were falling freely down her face and he didn't have to be a psyche major to see she was devastated by the news. He frowned when he realized that they were both scared to death.

He sighed as he walked up and drew her into his embrace. "It'll be okay, Darling…"

She cried harder as she buried her face into his shoulder. "How Cal?! How is it going to be okay?"

"I don't know, Luv, but we'll make it work."

Zoe leaned back and looked at him hopefully. "So you're going to stand by me and see this through?"

"Course I will."

"Really?"

Cal was starting to get offended and got defensive. "I just said I would, didn't I?"

Zoe nodded weakly as she realized he meant what he said. "You did, and I'm sorry if I acted like I doubted you."

"It's all right; my reputation isn't exactly the greatest…"

"No, it's not…"

"At's gonna change, right now…today…" At the look of confusion on her face, Cal elaborated. "I'm gonna do what's right...I want to get married."

"What?!"

"You heard me!"

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Why not."

Zoe sighed. "Not one of the most romantic proposals I've ever received but…"

"What do you mean, how the hell many bloody proposals have you gotten?"

Zoe looked at him defiantly then started to giggle. "Well…none…but I always thought they were supposed to be more romantic than that!"

Cal grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, well, how about I do it again…proper like…at dinner tonight?"

"Over cafeteria food?"

Cal shrugged as his mind began to form a plan. "No, it will be a surprise, though, wear something nice, yeah?"

"Cal…" Zoe rolled her eyes. "We can't afford anything…"

"Hush, Luv, let me worry about that okay?"

"Okay."

Six short but rocky months later, Cal had tears in his eyes as he held a screaming red faced bundle in his arms. He stared at her then smiled as he looked up at an exhausted Zoe. "She's beautiful, Darling."

Zoe smiled weakly. "She is…"

"You did a great job, Zoe."

" **WE** did a good job, Cal, thanks for being here, I don't know if I would have gotten though this without you."

"Oh, yeah?" Cal grinned proudly.

"Yeah," Zoe said as she smiled.

Cal handed her their new daughter and smiled as she latched onto her mother's breast for her first meal.

"Hey, that's mine!" Cal cooed as he caressed his daughter's head.

"Not anymore, Emily has first dibs now."

"Emily?" Cal frowned uncertainly. "That's my Grandmum's name."

"I know."

"You would do that for me?"

Zoe nodded. "Yeah, I would…and it also happens to be the name of one of my best friends when I was growing up so I think it fits her perfectly…."

"Yeah," Cal smiled as he looked at his daughter. "Hi, little Miss Emily Lightman…I'm your Da…and you and I are gonna be best mates…"

Zoe was exhausted and looked at him. "Maybe you could get help your best mate burp?"

Cal was petrified as Zoe handed him his daughter. "Bloody hell, Zoe, what if I hurt her?"

Zoe smiled at him lovingly. "You won't hurt her…just support her neck and put her against your chest!"

Cal brought her to his chest and held her head against his heart. As he tapped lightly on her back she burped lightly and he blinked in surprise. "That's my girl!" he smiled as he looked at Zoe. "Our daughter's bloody brilliant!"

Zoe's eyes were closed and she opened them slowly as she smiled. "Yeah, she's only a few minutes old and you taught her to burp!"

Cal sat back in his chair and slowly rocked Emily to sleep as he stared at his sleeping wife. "Wow, I can't believe I got this lucky!" he thought to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

_**CHAPTER 2**_

Four years later, Zoe walked into the back door of her house loaded down with several bags of groceries. She cast a quick glance around for her husband and saw him sitting in a chair, leaning over an old typewriter. He was so deep in thought he hadn't heard her enter the room even when she slammed the bags down angrily on the counter.

"Daddy!" their four year old daughter Emily squealed as she dumped the bag of groceries she helped carry onto the floor. Her favorite stuffed pink bunny met the same fate as she ran full blast towards her dad.

Cal looked up with surprise at the interruption then down with delight as he held open his arms to welcome his daughter. "Hello, Darling."

Emily laughed when he scooped her up and nuzzled her neck and gave her kisses. "Ow, Daddy! Your face is hurting me…?"

Cal made a funny face as he tickled his daughter's belly. "Oi…that's because I didn't shave yet, I've been very busy!"

"Pushing on those key things that make letters?"

Cal looked down at the typewriter she was pointing to. "Yes, at's right love, but its not just letters, I'm making words."

"Why?"

"Cause I got these thoughts in my brain and they're all just scrambled up and I have to get them out so I'm writing them down as they fall out of my head."

"How do they fall out of your head?"

"Right now...through my fingertips…"

Emily frowned then looked at the white sheet of paper in the machine. He could see her little face scrunch up in concentration as she leaned over to look at the letters typed on the page in front of her, then she leaned back and looked up into her dad's eyes. "It looks like a book."

Cal's face brightened. "At's right, darling. Your Dad's writing a book!"

Zoe blinked in surprise as she started to put the groceries away. "You are?!"

Able to read the anger on her face, Cal looked up wearily at his wife. "Yeah."

"About what?"

"My research…"

"That explains why you weren't available to help me bring in the groceries like you promised!" Zoe snapped back sarcastically as she walked over to the other side of the kitchen to the pantry.

Cal realized she was pissed and hopped to his feet as he patted Emily's head and steered her towards the living room where she could go watch tv. "I'm sorry, Luv, I swear I didn't hear you come in."

"So that loud garage door squeaking on its hinges didn't interrupt your train of thoughts?"

Cal looked at her sheepishly and pointed towards the garage. "Is there more to carry in?"

"No! Emily drove me completely crazy, I got what I could then I gave up."

Cal frowned. "She acted up in the store, did she?" he wondered as he looked at his daughter, ready to reprimand her for not minding her mum.

Zoe rolled her eyes. "No! It's just that I have so much studying to do and I had a million things on my mind and I just didn't have the patience today for her endless questions."

Cal looked at her pointedly. "She's four, Zoe, she has a lot on her mind too and her asking stuff is how she learns."

Zoe shot him a look of complete exasperation. "Well, then right after the dinner that YOU make, you can tell her why the macaroni noodles are small and in tube shapes then tell her what temperature the water needs to be to make the noodles not hard anymore and after that explain to her how the cheese that used to be dry and powdery is now creamy and soft…I'll be in the bedroom, I'm studying for a test I have tomorrow."

Cal watched her walk away and frowned as he went about putting away the rest of the groceries. He startled when he closed the refrigerator door and Emily was standing there looking at him.

"I'm hungry, Daddy!"

Cal smiled then pushed her hair away from her face. "Yeah, what are you hungry for?"

Emily pretended to think. "Pop tarts!"

"Pop tarts?!" Cal scowled. "At's not dinner, Em."

"Mommy makes them for dinner when you're not here."

Cal frowned at this bit of news then sighed. "Well, how about you help your Dad make something good for dinner….like some grilled chicken, maybe some corn with butter?"

Emily's eyes lit up as she nodded. "I like corn."

"Good girl, me too, and you know who else likes corn?"

"Who?"

"Your Mum…"

"Yeah!" Emily giggled.

Cal picked Emily up and brought her over to the sink. He made a game of washing both of their hands then sat Emily on a tall chair next to the counter where he was working.

He quickly grabbed the items he needed from the refrigerator then grabbed a pot of water to boil the corn on the cob in. He filled it with water then set it on the stove and turned the burner on high.

He put a huge bowl as well as a head of lettuce in front of Emily. "Here you go, Luv, help Daddy by ripping leaves off and throwing them in the bowl.

Emily looked at him with confusion and Cal smiled as he grabbed her chin and gave her a kiss. "How about I show you how?"

Emily nodded eagerly as Cal grabbed the top leaves and showed her how to pull them off the head then make them into smaller pieces.

Emily watched and after a few sloppy attempts Cal smiled and left her alone.

He turned on the built in stove top grill to warm then quickly cut up the rest of the fixings for the salad and dumped them unceremoniously into the bowl Emily was filling."

"I'm a good helper, huh Daddy?"

"The best helper I've ever had, Darling."

Emily smiled as continued. "Daddy?"

"Yeah, Em?"

"Why does lettuce grow in a ball?"

Cal frowned in confusion at the unexpected question. "What?"

"The lettuce…how does it grow in layers like this? Does it roll around like a snowball and just keep getting bigger around like my snowman did?"

Cal looked like a deer in headlights at his lack of answers. "How should I know, Em?"

"I thought big people knew stuff."

Cal rolled his eyes with exasperation. "I know stuff, Em! Just different types of stuff."

"Like what?"

"Well, like how to tell if someone is lying…"

"What's lying?"

Cal sighed as he tried to come up with an example she would understand. "Well, remember a couple of days ago you told me you didn't eat any cookies and I knew you did?"

Emily nodded her head as she looked down with shame, worried she was going to reprimanded. "Yes…" she said quietly.

"Well, that was a lie. A lie is something you say that isn't true." Cal lifted her chin so she could see that he wasn't mad at her. "I could tell that you were lying to me."

Emily frowned as she looked at him seriously. "Then why didn't I get a time out?"

Cal looked at her pointedly. "Because you're getting to be a big girl now and I always want you to come to me and tell me the truth and know that you won't get into trouble for it."

Emily looked away for a few minutes and Cal could tell she was processing everything he had just said. He schooled his features as she looked back at him. "How did you know I was lying?"

Cal launched into an explanation where he told her about facial changes and body language. He stopped when Emily grew bored and turned away.

"Oh." Was her reply after a five minute lesson from Cal on the intricacies of micro expressions. "I thought maybe I had chocolate on my face."

Cal remembered her teeth being filled with black crumbs from the Oreos she snuck and he smiled at her. "No, that would be too obvious but not only did I see the crumbs, I saw all that other stuff too."

Dinner was almost ready and Cal lifted Emily from her chair. "Run and get your Mum, okay Luv?!"

"Okay, Daddy."

Emily took off up the steps while Cal filled three plates with the dinner he had cooked.

Emily came down disappointed. "Mom wants to know if I can bring her plate up to her?"

"Sit at the table Em, I'll be right back." Cal frowned as he turned and grabbed Zoe's plate and headed up the steps.

Cal stormed into their bedroom to find Zoe on the bed with open books surrounding her.

"Thanks, baby," she muttered distractedly while she continued to read.

"You're welcome."

Zoe looked up in surprise at Cal. "I didn't know it was you, thank you," she said as she reached for the plate.

"You couldn't take ten minutes to have a proper dinner with our daughter at the table?" he accused.

Zoe rolled her eyes. "You know I have to study!" She cut into her chicken and took a piece. "Oh this is really good!"

"Better than a bloody pop tart, eh?"

Zoe looked at him guiltily when she realized he knew what she gave to Emily for dinner two nights ago. "It's food!"

"A pastry that gets heated up in a toaster is not dinner!"

Zoe grew angry and threw her plate onto the mattress. The corn on the cob slide off and they watched as it rolled under the bed.

Cal waved his arms disgustedly. "That was something called a vegetable, some people eat them with their meat when they cook dinner."

"What are you saying, Cal? That I can't take care of our daughter!"

"I'm saying a bleeding pop tart is not the proper nutrition our daughter needs to grow!"

"Then maybe you should have been home to cook her something!"

"I was working!" Cal screamed out angrily.

Zoe started to pace the room. "I took three years off of school to raise Emily and you promised when I went back to get my law degree that you would help out around here! I assumed that meant shopping and cleaning and cooking!"

"I had to work late, Zoe, it's the reason we're able to afford to buy food in the first place."

Zoe started screaming. "I can't believe you're bitching because I quit my job!"

"Bloody hell!" Cal said as he rolled his eyes before he turned and walked out the door. "At's not what I said."

He walked downstairs and looked at his daughter who was quietly sitting at the table waiting for him.

"I should have taken Mommy her plate," she accused. "Then you wouldn't be fighting again."

Cal sat down with a sigh and poured dressing over her salad. "Your Mum and I weren't fighting, Luv."

Emily frowned as she watched him cut her chicken into smaller pieces. "It sounded like a fight."

"No…no…we were just talking really loud…come on now let's eat," he said as he pushed her plate in front of her.

Emily dutifully ate and Cal popped a piece of chicken in his mouth. Because of his fight with Zoe, the food was no longer hot and he sighed that he had failed at his attempt at making a decent meal for his daughter. "It's not very hot, is it?" he frowned.

Emily was happily chewing her chicken and shook her head. "It's not too hot like Daddy Bear's and its not too cold like Mommy Bear's…its just right!"

Cal nodded at the Goldilocks reference and he smiled at his daughter. "Did I ever tell you I think you're brilliant?"

"What's brilliant?"

"Brilliant is….well sometimes it can be sparkling and bright…which you are, but in this case it means smart…very very smart…which you also are."

Emily beamed as she took a bite of her corn on the cob. Cal watched as a stray kernel stuck to her face and butter dripped on her chin. "Thanks, Daddy!"

He reached up with his napkin and wiped her face. "You're welcome, darling."

Cal and Emily laughed and talked the whole time and Cal realized that the even though he ate a lukewarm dinner, the time spent with Emily was the best he'd had in a long time.

Zoe came down as they were finishing and stopped at his side as she looked at her daughter. "Daddy made a really good dinner didn't he, Em?"

Emily nodded as she looked smugly at her mother. "He made a brilliant dinner, Mommy!"

Zoe's eyes lit with humor as she looked at Cal lovingly. "Okay…it was a brilliant dinner."

Accepting her unspoken apology, Cal shrugged as he looked back at her lovingly.

Emily sat up straighter. "I helped make the salad, I tore apart the lettuce."

Zoe raised her hands in disbelief. "You did! Well, I would have never guessed because that was the best salad I've ever had. I can't tell you how many times I've had salad where the leaves were too big or too small…yours were perfect!"

"Thanks, Mommy!"

Zoe started to gather the dirty plates until Cal grabbed her wrist. "I've got this, Zoe. Go on and get your studying done."

Zoe wavered uncertainly. "Emily needs her bath…"

"Daddy can give me a bath, right Daddy?!"

Cal nodded. "I can! I can turn the water on and off even better than Mum because I'm much stronger."

Zoe sighed. "Last time you gave her a bath we had four inches of water on the floor!"

"At's because the whale came to eat Pinocchio and Giuseppe and we had to send in the Navy submarines to rescue them." Cal explained while Emily giggled aloud and nodded vigorously.

Zoe made a face while she debated. She looked at Cal as her eyes flashed a warning not to destroy the house then she leaned in and kissed him. "Thanks."

Cal deepened the kiss while Emily groaned "Ewww…" then squealed as she began to giggle.

Zoe shook her head with amusement then leaned over and kissed Emily's cheek. "Be good for Daddy."

After Zoe left the room, Cal shot to his feet. "All right then, let's clean up…chop chop!"

Emily bounced from her chair and began carrying the plates to the sink and handling them to Cal. Cal rinsed them and placed them in the dishwasher then added the pots and pans from the stove as well as some cups that were stacked in the sink. With a quick flip of the buttons, the dishwasher was started and he pointed up the steps.

"Naked in the tub, five minutes!"

Emily nodded and ran full speed towards the steps. She jumped onto the second one then her foot slipped and she fell on the third one.

"Owwwww….." she wailed dramatically as she bumped her shin.

Cal rolled his eyes then scooped her up and carried her up the steps. "You're okay, darling, let's get you into the bathroom and see if we're gonna have to amputate your leg…"

Emily sniffled and looked at him. "What's amputate mean?"

"Amputate is when you can't fix a boo boo and you have to cut off the person's arm or leg instead!"

Emily pushed away from him in horror. "I don't have a boo boo," she exclaimed. "See, I'm fine!" She slipped from his arms and danced on the supposedly hurt leg.

Cal pretended to study her to see if she was okay. "Yeah, it looks like your leg's sound, you're not lame at all."

Zoe had peeked out the bedroom door. "She's not a horse, Cal."

Cal looked at Emily and grinned as he looked back at his wife. "At's good, cause I was afraid we were gonna have to shoot her."

Zoe watched as Emily's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Cal!" she warned.

"What?!"

Emily put her hand on her hip then pointed at him angrily. "You were gonna shoot me?!"

Cal shrugged. "Well, not anymore cause your legs all better now, right?!"

"Rrrrrright!"

"Okay, then into the tubby with you!"

Cal started the water in the tub while Emily stripped her way across her bedroom leaving a trail of clothes in her wake. She ran back into the bathroom and hopped into the tub.

Cal gently pushed her head under the running water then lathered her hair with shampoo. He quickly rinsed it under the tap then lathered her hair with conditioner. The water was already too high for her to slip her head back under the tap so Cal grabbed the cup and started to fill it with water to dump over the top of her head.

"Eyes!" he warned as Emily grabbed for a washcloth to hold over her eyes as he unceremoniously dumped clean water over her head until her hair was completely rinsed.

"At's good, Em." Cal said as he turned off the water then stood and looked down at her. "Don't drown or your mom will kill me."

Knowing she had taken swimming lessons from the age of two and was actually a very good swimmer, Cal left the room while Emily giggled. He rolled his eyes at the trail of clothes she left across her bedroom and he kicked them towards the hamper as he made his way towards her dresser.

He grabbed a pair of underwear for her as well as a pair of pajamas then headed back into the bathroom. Emily looked at the choices he made for her clothing and frowned as she pointed back out the door. "I can't wear those."

Cal looked down at his hands with confusion. "What?"

"Those underwears…"

Cal looked at the tag on them. "Why not, they're your size…"

"Those say Friday on them."

"So?!"

"Tomorrow's Fursday!" Emily announced as if she was pointing out something he should already have known.

"And?"

Emily sighed. "I have to wear Fursday on Fursday or I'll get into trouble."

Cal's face scrunched up with confusion. "By who? Who the hell is reading your bloomers?!"

"Mommy cause then she knows I changed them."

Cal frowned at the news and realized it actually was a really good way to make sure Emily always had clean underwear on. "Oh, well that makes sense I guess."

"Go get me Fursday's."

"Why don't you just wear Friday's tomorrow then Thursday's on Friday?"

Emily looked at him pointedly as she crossed her arms across her chest and stuck out her bottom lip. Cal rolled his eyes as he turned to go and get the correct pair. "Your eyes are gonna stick like that, Em!"

He came back in as Emily stood and reached for him to lift her out of the tub.

Cal scooped her up and wrapped her in a warm towel then sat on the toilet and turned her around. Emily stood quietly while Cal gently combed her waist length hair.

The comb got caught on a tangle and he gently worked it out. "I'm sorry if it hurts, Em."

Emily shook her head. "It never hurts when you comb my hair, Daddy."

Cal sighed gratefully then realized what she just said. "Does it hurt when your Mum combs your hair?"

Emily shrugged. "Sometimes, if she's in a hurry."

Cal frowned as he decided to talk with Zoe about Emily's care. He was also going to make an honest attempt to be home more to help out.

"Daddy will you read to me?" Emily asked when he set down the comb.

Cal unwrapped her from the towel then held her underwear as she stepped into it. "Course, luv, go pick out your favorites."

He was holding her pajamas when she grabbed them from him. "I can do it myself."

"Oh, sorry." Cal stood up as Emily struggled to put the nightgown on over her head.

Satisfied, she looked up at him proudly. Cal reached forward and held out the neckline to show her the tag.

"What's this?"

"The tag." Emily replied as she looked down.

"Yeah…does it go in front or in back?"

"In back."

"Huh, so why's yours in the front?"

Emily frowned as she looked down in confusion. She stood for a few seconds while Cal waited to see if she could reason it out. Emily began to giggle. "Cause I put it on backwards…"

Cal chuckled proudly. "Yeah…you did…silly girl."

Cal helped her twist it around then Emily skipped to her bed as he hung up the damp towel.

"Oi!" He called out just as she was about to get in the bed. Cal pointed at the hamper. "When I came in here to get your pajamas and panties I had to kick your dirty clothes over to the hamper cause you left them laying all over the place."

Emily looked down. "I sorry, Daddy, but I was trying to hurry for you."

Cal nodded. "Yeah, and that's really nice that you were being so considerate of your old Dad's feelings there but the dirty clothes belong in the hamper."

"I frow them in there now?"

"Fabulous idea!" Cal grinned as she picked them up.

"Now bed?"

"Yep!" Cal grinned and picked her up then threw her down in the middle of the mattress while she giggled loudly. "Climb under the covers now, come on, hurry up."

Emily scrambled underneath and Cal plopped down next to her then opened the book. Emily snuggled up as Cal put his arm around her and held her to his chest. He only made it through half of the book before she was sound asleep.

He slipped from the bed and turned on her nightlight as he headed out the door.

He stripped on his way down the hall and headed straight to the shower where he quickly washed and brushed his teeth to get ready for bed. Zoe didn't look up from her book as he walked into their bedroom.

Cal bounced on the bed as Zoe scrambled for the books he was upsetting and she shot him a dirty look.

"God, I love that kid."

Zoe smiled distractedly at him. "Yeah, me too. We did good!"

Cal looked at her curiously as a thought formed in his mind. "Do you ever think about having another one…a little boy maybe?"

Zoe's head shot up. "What did you say?"

Cal looked at her. "I said maybe we should consider giving Em a brother or sister."

Zoe threw up her hands in exasperation. "You've got to be kidding me?!"

"It was just a thought, Zoe!" Cal backpedaled to try to avoid a fight.

"No! No, it wasn't! You're pissed cause I went back to school and now that I'm close to finishing and ready to take the bar exam, you want to saddle me with another kid?!"

"Saddle you?! Em's not a horse…" Cal insinuated just as she had earlier.

"Of course she's not but she's older now and I can take her places. In a few short months she'll be in school. So, I've finally got a little bit of independence and you don't like it!"

Cal shook his head with exasperation. "Forget I mentioned it," he said as he rolled over to face the wall.

"No!" Zoe screamed as she pulled him over to face her. "No, we're not finished with this. Why on earth do you think it's a good time to bring another kid into the picture?"

"Because Em's four and like you pointed out she's easier to take care of now. She's a great kid and I thought it would be nice if she had a sibling."

"I'm hoping to be a lawyer in less than a year…"

"I know that, Zoe, and I know you're under a lot of pressure and I promise you I'm gonna start getting home a lot earlier to help out with Em and the house."

"Because I'm not doing a good enough job?"

Cal finally had enough of her attack and sat up. "No! Not if our daughter's eating pop tarts for dinner and you're hurting her while combing her hair!"

"Fuck off, Cal…"

"Oi, that's not right."

"Emily had pop tarts one time for dinner and we ran out of conditioner last week and I had a horrible time combing through her hair." Zoe threw her book down on the floor and began to cry. "So I guess that makes me a horrible mother right…"

Cal felt like an ass and leaned over to take her in his arms. "I'm sorry, Luv," he whispered as he pulled her close. "I never meant for you to think that, I just thought that maybe we could put more effort into taking better care of her. I'm willing to do what I can."

Zoe took a deep breath as she took comfort in his arms. "Its just now getting easier, Cal, I don't think there's any way I could even consider going back to walking around with a baby latched onto my breast again…the diapers and the two o'clock in the morning feedings and…"

Cal sighed when he realized that as much as he tried to help, Zoe had done the majority of Emily's raising so far. "I know, darling, I'm really sorry I brought it up."

Zoe smiled into his chest. "There is the endless kisses and hugs too…and that sweet baby powder smell…the little sigh when they're content and they snuggle up to you…"

Cal leaned back and grinned at her. "And the puke dripping down your back from their burp or the mess dripping down your arm from the blown diaper…"

Zoe wrinkled her nose at him with a smile. "How about we talk about this again later?"

"Deal," Cal said as he leaned over and kissed her.

They made love that night and fell into a deep sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

Another three years passed, Cal had kept his promise to his wife and had taken over most of the domestic chores.

It was early on a Saturday morning when he walked into the house with his arms loaded down with groceries. Seven year old, Emily followed close behind him carrying just as many bags.

"Dad, it would be a lot easier if we shopped once a week and bought a few things instead of buying the whole store once a month."

Cal rolled his eyes as he pointed at the bags. "Put away or carry more?" he asked as he gave her the option of which chore she'd like to do.

"Put away," Emily grumbled as she started sorting through the bags of groceries.

Cal walked back to the garage for another load of grocery bags. Laden down, he made the trip into the kitchen then closed the garage door with his foot.

Emily had all the cabinet doors opened and was making quick work of putting the groceries away. She opened the refrigerator door then made a face at the lack of space available. "Dad it's packed…there's no room for any of the stuff we bought!"

Cal walked to her side and looked at the shelves. He realized that most of space was taken up with leftovers that had never got eaten. "All right then…clean out the fridge or start cleaning in the living room?"

"Are you kidding me? This thing is a toxic dump. I'll dust the living room."

"Okay, hazmat suit for me…lemon fresh polish for you!" Cal kissed her head. "Don't vacuum…I want to move the furniture and get behind all of it."

"Wow, we are cleaning today!"

"Yeah, well, Mum's been busy lately and I promised to help."

Emily learned a long time ago that her mother hated anything to do with household maintenance and her dad was the one who took care of everything. "Yeah, well, you're busy too."

Cal smiled as he shrugged indifferently. "My jobs a little easier than mum's."

"Why's that?"

Zoe walked into the room. "Because Daddy gets to sit in a chair and ask people obnoxious questions to try to get a rise out of them so he can see what they're feeling. I'm trying to prove myself in a male dominated field where everyone is just waiting for me to fail." She looked at the groceries still on the counter. "Who's going to eat all of this food?"

Emily was put off by her mother's light reprimand and snapped back. "Dad and I. He uses this stuff when _he_ cooks dinner every night then _**we**_ sit down and eat _**together**_." She pointed at the bowls Cal was pulling out of the refrigerator and setting on the counter. "Those are _your_ dinners, the ones that you're never home for."

Cal's eyebrows rose in surprise at the sass that was coming from his daughter's mouth and he looked at his wife to gauge her reaction.

Zoe closed her eyes against the pain her daughter's words had caused and when she looked back at her, she had her lawyer's mask firmly in place. "I'm sorry if my earning money for you to buy those $70 jeans you wanted is interfering with your dinner plans! Now, can you possibly start dusting in the living room? I need to talk to your father."

"That'll be a first…" Emily grumbled under her breath as she walked from the room.

"Oi!" Cal reprimanded her.

Emily looked at him in defiance and Cal flashed a look of annoyance until she looked away sheepishly and left the room.

Zoe smiled weakly at him. "She's right, you know."

Cal shrugged as he looked at her. "We're doing the best we can; it's not your fault."

Zoe took a deep breath. "No, neither is my having to go away next week."

Cal frowned as he set the bowl he was holding back down on the counter. "What?"

"I have to fly to California to meet with some clients and get their depositions."

"Bloody hell! How long are you going to be gone?"

"A week…maybe…"

Cal sighed as he opened the bowl and looked with disgust at the layer of mold on the food. He dumped it into the garbage and set the bowl in the sink to be rinsed. "Maybe Em and I could go with you…hang out at the pool for awhile…"

Zoe's face flashed a look of annoyance which she quickly covered up but of course Cal had seen it. "Hey, what's that for?"

"Cal, its work. No one else is bringing their husband or kids."

Cal was intrigued by this bit of news. "Oh, yeah, who else is going?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"Deflection!"

"Don't read me!"

"Don't lie to me!"

"I'm not lying!"

"So who's going?"

"Do you remember a guy named Dave Grouper?"

"Grouper…wasn't he in school with you?"

"Yeah, well…he started working for the state department right after school."

"Huh…I didn't know that…"

Zoe looked guilty. "Yeah, well, he remembered me from school and back before I was hired he put in a good word for me."

Cal frowned as he continued to dump the spoiled contents out of the rest of the containers. "Hmmm…"

"Who else…"

"Who else what?"

Cal rolled his eyes. "Who else is going?"

"Um…no one just us…"

Cal stopped and looked intently at her face for several seconds. Zoe kept her face blank as she stared back at him defiantly and Cal finally gave up and shrugged. "Ok…I've got Em…no need to worry about the home front."

Zoe hugged him gratefully. "Thanks honey, I knew I could count on you to take care of Emily."

Cal hugged her back. "Yeah well, like you always said it's pretty easy with one."

Zoe immediately felt he was bringing up the age old argument of her choice not to have more children. "Really?! You're going to do this now? I have to leave tomorrow, Cal!"

Cal's face showed his surprise at her sudden tongue lashing then thought quickly about what had brought it on. His face fell with exasperation. "I didn't mean anything by it Zoe!"

"Yeah right!"

"I swear I didn't!"

"It always comes back to me not wanting more kids doesn't it?! It always comes back to you wanting to tie me down with responsibilities!"

Emily turned on the vacuum cleaner to drown out her parents fight. They knew immediately they had upset her and Cal made a face as he looked at Zoe. "Can you handle this?" he asked as he pointed towards the mess in the kitchen. "I'm going to move furniture so the house will actually be clean…"

Knowing she would do it, Cal walked away without an answer. Zoe sighed as she looked at the mess and began to vigorously scrub the shelves and drawers in the refrigerator.

Cal came in a short while later and wordlessly emptied the garbage bin before the expired food started to really smell.

Few words were spoken as the family worked together. Emily walked upstairs and started to clean the tub and shower in both bathrooms and Zoe followed behind her to clean the toilets, mirrors and wash basins. Cal followed behind them with a bucket of soapy water to mop the floors.

Emily stripped her bed and carried the sheets to the laundry room then dumped the first load in. She went back upstairs and started dusting her dressers and book shelves. Cal carried the vacuum up from downstairs and began to vacuum while Zoe set about making the bed with fresh sheets.

Emily took the vacuum cleaner from her dad to finish so Cal walked to the master bedroom and stripped the sheets from the bed then hauled them to the laundry room. Zoe walked in and began to dust the dressers while Cal came back up and began to put all of the clothes for the dry cleaners in a bag to put in his car. He hauled that down while Emily vacuumed the hallway and made her way down to their room.

Cal came back up and smiled at her as he took over the vacuum. He kissed her forehead then nodded towards her room to show her that she was free to do whatever she wanted.

Emily skipped down the hall and shut her door as Cal maneuvered the vacuum around their room. It was quiet when he turned it off and started to wind the cord around the little levers.

He looked up to see Zoe starting to put clean sheets on. He walked to the other side and together they made up the bed.

He raised his eyebrows suggestively. "Wanna get these dirty again?"

Zoe rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Maybe later…" not wanting to bring up a sore subject she hesitated. "I…um…need to pack."

Cal sighed as he headed downstairs. He looked at his typewriter and cocked his head thoughtfully then sat down. His hands flew over the keys as his thoughts poured from his mind. Six hours later, Zoe walked a plate of food over to him and set it down.

Cal glanced at it and distractedly took a bite out of the cheeseburger she had placed there. His hands hesitated only a few times while he ate another bite of food.

Another six hours past before Zoe came over to him again. "Cal, it's almost midnight."

"Oh, yeah?"

"I'm leaving in the morning and I'll be gone for over a week…"

"Oh yeah…"

"Isn't there something you'd rather be doing than talking about facial ticks?" she hinted suggestively.

She had been kissing his neck and came upon the sensitive spot. Cal felt the sensation shoot right to his groin.

"Oi, I can think of one thing!"

"Good me too!" Zoe grinned.

She ran up the stairs as Cal followed her. Wondering if he smelled bad he grabbed a towel and jumped in the shower. Zoe came in a few minutes later and slipped in behind him. He jumped when he felt her hands slide around on him.

After a quick rinse they stumbled onto their bed and made love. Four hours later, Cal woke and frowned as he looked at the clock. His mind was racing as he slipped from the bed and headed back to his typewriter.

Knowing Zoe had to be at the airport by eleven it was eight o'clock when he started a fresh pot of coffee then started to warm a pan to fry bacon in. Fifteen minutes later, the bacon was cooked and staying warm in the oven when Emily came down.

"Hi, Dad."

"Good morning, darling."

"Why are you up so early and cooking breakfast on a weekend?"

Cal realized that Zoe hadn't told Emily she was going to be gone and he frowned. "Did your mom tell you she was going to go away for work?"

Emily's eyebrows rose. "No!"

"Oh…" Cal sighed. "Well, your mum has to go away for work."

"How long?"

"A week, maybe…"

"A week?! She's leaving me alone for a week?!"

Cal rolled his eyes at her. "What am I chopped liver?"

Emily rolled her eyes in an equally exasperated gesture. "You know I didn't mean it that way, Dad!"

"Well, what do you mean, Em?"

"Why can't she be like other moms…why can't she take care of me…you know…cook for me and braid my hair and iron my costume for play practice…take me to soccer!"

"You don't play soccer, Em…"

"Come on, Dad, you know what I mean!"

Zoe had stopped midway down on the stairs as guilt washed over her at her daughter's words. She smiled when Cal rushed to her defense.

"Em…your mom does all kinds of things for you that you have no idea about."

"Oh yeah, like what?!"

Cal frowned. "Well…she buys you that shampoo and conditioner you need to get that mop on top of your head all beautiful…and she buys you cool clothes and stuff…"

Emily cocked her head to the side. "She does have good taste in clothes. If it was up to you I'd be wearing black t-shirts with pants that don't fit."

Cal looked down at his clothes. "What's wrong with that?!" Emily raised her eyebrows as Cal looked confused. "What?! They're clean!"

"That's all they are…" Emily said as she jumped down to walk to get some juice from the refrigerator. "Sometimes, I wonder how you even got Mom to give you a second glance…I mean…"

Before Emily could say another thing Zoe walked into the room and put her arms around Cal's shoulders. "Are you kidding me, Em?! You're Dad was the hottest guy on campus…"

Emily smiled as she looked at her mother with disbelief. "I didn't know you went to an all girl school?"

"Hey!" Cal pretended mock offense.

Zoe poured herself a cup of coffee as Cal dumped the eggs into the pan to start to fry. "You know I went to Harvard…"

"Doesn't Harvard have a lot of suit and tie types of guys who actually know how to use a razor?"

"Still here…" Cal pointed out sarcastically.

Zoe leaned in and kissed him. "Yeah, well, none of them held a candle to your Dad here…"

Emily grinned at the honest expression of love her parents were giving each other and her gazed softened. "Yeah…that's cool," she said as she pushed the button down on the toaster.

Cal pushed the eggs around in the pan while Zoe grabbed the bacon from the stove. She placed it on the table on a hot plate while Emily put new bread in the slots of the toaster then buttered the warm toast.

Cal carried the frying pan to the table then divided the eggs amongst the three plates. The little family worked like a well oiled machine as they got their breakfast.

After they ate, Emily dutifully started to clean up while Cal followed Zoe upstairs. Zoe brushed her teeth and packed the last minute essentials then sat on the edge of the bed.

"I was on the steps earlier when Em…" her voice trailed off.

Cal knew she had overheard Emily's unkind words. "I know, luv. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, I'm such a failure as a wife and mother."

Cal grinned at her. "After last night I don't know if I have any complaints in the wife department."

Zoe knew he referred to their lovemaking and realized it had been pretty intense. "Yeah, well, I have to be good at something right?"

"Yeah, well, I'm happy that you happen to be bloody brilliant at that…"

"You're a pig," Zoe chuckled until she realized he didn't say anything about her mothering style. "So, I'm great in bed but not so great as a mom."

Cal wanted to avoid a fight so he looked away. "I don't know about that…"

"Yeah, you do…so why don't you tell me the truth?!"

"What do you want me to say, Zoe? That I don't think you put Emily's needs in front of your own enough? That I think sometimes you're selfish with your time?"

Zoe blinked in surprise before she grew angry. "Well, I'm glad you didn't hold back…"

"You told me to tell you the truth!" Cal blasted.

The door bell rang and Cal threw up his hands in disbelief. "Who in the hell can that be on a Saturday morning?!"

Zoe glanced at the clock as she rushed around the room checking for last minute items. "That's probably Dave Grouper."

"Why's he here?" Cal asked.

"He's taking me to the airport."

"I would have done that!"

Zoe looked at him and shrugged. "Well Dave is driving anyway and our house was on his way and I thought it would save you and Emily the trouble."

She raced downstairs and Cal looked at her suitcases and knew she had assumed he would carry them down for her, which he did.

Cal walked in to find Dave and Zoe hugging in the front hall. Dave's hands were precariously low on her back.

"Is there a reason your hands are almost on my wife's bum?"

Dave snatched his hands back guiltily while Zoe rolled her eyes as she made the introductions.

Cal looked at Dave suspiciously then back at Zoe to watch how she interacted with Dave. Emily came in and Zoe introduced her as well which gave Cal a chance to see how Dave acted around children.

Zoe realized he was reading all of them and turned her back. "Dave, I'll meet you in the car in five minutes…would you be a dear and carry out my suitcase?"

Dave smiled at Emily and Cal, then did as Zoe asked.

Zoe turned and gave Emily a quick hug and kiss then turned to Cal and did the same. "I'll miss you guys!" she said as she turned to walk outside.

Emily watched her leave then turned to Cal and looked at him in disbelief. "Did Mom just do that thing with the eyebrows that a person does when they're lying?"

Cal looked at her then looked away. "What do you want to do today?"

"Deflection!"

Cal frowned and schooled his features before he looked at Emily. "I don't know what you're talking about Em, I didn't see it and I think your Mom is going to miss us horribly while she's away."

Emily watched him for a long time then frowned as she was unable to tell if he was lying to her or not. "Huh," she said unconvincingly. "I'm going to go to Hannah's house if that's all right. Her mom was going to take us to a movie."

Cal sighed with sadness that his little girl was growing up and wanted to spend time with her friends instead of him. "Yeah, go on then."

Emily looked at him uncertainly. "Are you going to be okay by yourself?"

Cal rolled his eyes. "Do you want to call Megan and see if she'll babysit me?"

"You're so odd…" Emily sighed when he referred to her old babysitter who was away at college. "I just don't want you to be alone, Dad."

Cal shrugged indifferently. "It'll be so quiet maybe it'll finally give me a chance to write my book."

"The same one you were writing like two years ago?"

"No! That one was already published and made us like a trillion dollars… this is a new book!"

Emily rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. "If you made a trillion dollars on that book can I have ten dollars to go to the movies?"

Cal dug in his pocket and handed her a twenty. "At's all I got."

"That'll work. Thanks, Dad," Emily said as a car began to honk out in front.

Cal walked to the door and waved to Hannah's mom as Emily raced passed him to go to the car.

When they drove away, Cal went back inside and looked around the room. Realizing it was too quiet; he plopped on the couch and turned on the television. After surfing through the channels twice, he finally shut it off and looked at the typewriter.

He walked over to read the last line he had typed then went into the kitchen and made himself some tea. He walked back and placed the mug on the side of the typewriter and soon became lost in his thoughts. The only sound for the next few hours was the clacking of the keys.

Emily had called and asked if she could spend the night and distractedly Cal agreed. After she hung up, he went right back to his typing. Eight hours later, Cal leaned back in his chair and looked at the final page.

He warmed up a pot of beans on the stove and then shoved bread in the toaster. Within five minutes, he was pouring his beans over his toast and making his way back to the book.

He gathered the pages and plopped onto the most comfortable chair in the house. He flipped over page one and began to reread his work. It was two in the morning when he set the last page down.

He flipped the book over and sat back and looked at it. _"I wonder if it's good enough?"_ he thought.

He wanted to ask Zoe to read it but she was always so busy and he didn't think she would take the time to give it the attention it deserved. With a frown, he got up and shoved it into a manila envelope and placed it back on the table by the typewriter.

He went upstairs, climbed into bed and was sound asleep within minutes.

The next day he looked at the envelope containing his book. He cocked his head as he debated what to do with it. Making an instant decision, he grabbed it, threw it in his briefcase and headed to work.

He sent an email to an old professor who recommended a colleague he knew at the local college. That afternoon, Cal met with the woman who was the head of the English Department.

The woman read the first few pages then turned her back and practically ignored Cal as she walked over to the sofa in her office. She sat down and read several more pages then looked at him with surprise.

"You wrote this?"

Cal shuffled nervously as he tried to read her. "I did."

"Is this supposed to be fiction?"

"No…at's all true."

"True? Really, I'm supposed to believe that you can tell what a person's feeling or thinking based on little micro-somethings?"

"At's right."

"And this is based on whose research?"

"Mine."

"Yours?!"

Cal shrugged with indifference then settled into doing what he did best as he pointed at her. "Yes, and you're torn between believing that someone like me has come up with a way to read people and throwing me out the door because you think it's a crappy scientific finding. Now you've only read half of the first chapter and you're intrigued about the rest of the book but something's holding you back…can I ask what it is?"

The woman schooled her features but not before Cal realized he had nailed it on the head. "Can I keep this overnight? Will you come back tomorrow at this same time and we'll talk?"

Cal reached out his hand. "My name's Dr. Cal Lightman."

"Dr. Lightman, it's nice to meet you. I'm Dr. Louise Hallman." Cal looked at her eyes as she started to smile. "I realize you don't know me and have absolutely no reason to trust me but I can tell you right now, I'm hooked and I actually can't wait until you leave so I can read the rest of this."

Cal saw the honesty in her face and nodded. "Okay, I will come back tomorrow."

Cal left and Louise opened the book and began to read again. Three hours later, she turned the last page. "Wow!" she said to no one in particular.

She walked over to her desk and grabbed the phone and called a publishing friend of hers.

"Rita, what are you doing tonight?"

"Louise?"

"Yep."

"Um…nothing I didn't have any plans…"

"You do now…I'm on my way over, I'll grab some Chinese take out and a bottle of wine, get your cork screw ready."

Louise hung up and Rita stared at the phone as it droned the disconnect signal. Thirty minutes later, Louise pulled up in front of her house.

Rita opened the door as Louise breezed past.

"Here," Louise said as she handed Rita the envelope then headed to the kitchen.

Rita's eyebrows rose in surprise as she looked down and took out the manuscript. She realized Louise meant for her to read it and she frowned as she made her way to get comfortable on the couch.

Ten minutes later, Louise walked in and set a plate in front of Rita then handed her a glass filled with wine.

Rita barely acknowledged her as she took a sip of the wine then set it down and reached for the plate.

She ate and drank and rarely looked up from the pages. About half way through she turned a page then looked at Louise. "Fact or fiction?"

"Fact."

"Sources?"

"Himself."

Rita grunted then looked back down at the pages. Two hours later, she looked up again. "Who the hell is this guy?"

Louise shrugged. "Steve Ripley recommended him to me. Dr. Cal Lightman showed up in my office this afternoon and handed me this. I read two chapters and told him to contact me tomorrow."

Rita's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Is this guy for real?"

"I think you need to find that out for yourself."

Rita nodded her head as she waved her hand dismissively, "Call Steve…I want…Dr. Lightman is it?" Louise nodded. "...In my office tomorrow afternoon at 4:00. That'll give me some time to show this book to a few other people and get their take on it."

"I was pretty sure you we're going to feel this way about it."

"Louise, if this guy can do what he claims we're going to make a lot of money on this book."

"So is he."

The next day, Cal showed up at the address he was given and blinked in surprise to find he was at the front door of a well known publishing company. Louise was standing out front waiting for him.

"Dr. Lightman!"

Cal reached out to shake her hand. "Dr. Hallman."

"Thanks for meeting me down here."

"At's no problem."

Louise directed him towards the door. "I took the liberty of showing your book to my best friend Rita. She wanted to get a chance to meet you and talk about your book."

Cal frowned wondering if he should be excited or not. "Okay…"

On the fifth floor, he followed Louise into a conference room.

Seated around the table were eight impeccably dressed people, three men and five women stared at him and Cal nervously looked down at his wrinkled black t-shirt and frowned.

The middle aged brunette sitting at the head of the table stood and walked over to him and offered her hand. "Dr. Lightman, my name is Rita Collins."

"Nice to meet you," Cal said as he shook her hand.

Rita waved at the rest of the table. "My colleagues and I have all had a chance to read your book and quite honestly are fascinated by your science."

"Thank you." Cal said warily as he scanned the room.

Rita offered him a seat and Cal leaned forward and settled his head against his hand and looked at them feigning boredom.

Rita looked at him with a smile. "We'd like to ask if you can possibly give us a demonstration of your expertise."

Cal glanced quickly around the room and then sighed as he stood up. "Okay, this guy is barely holding it together because he's got a bleeding headache, probably from a hang over." The man's jaw dropped open in shock as Cal continued. "This woman is only interested because she thinks she needs to be…probably worried about keeping her job. This guy has the hots for this woman and she can't stand the sight of him although this woman would jump in the sack with him in a heartbeat." The three people he spoke of all looked away while Cal turned to the other side of the table. "This guy…" he paused and then smiled at the man, "Well…thank you for the opportunity...and you two…" He said as he addressed the other two women in the room. Cal's eyebrows looked at the blonde one and he smiled wickedly and wagged his eyebrows. "I would consider it if I wasn't happily married…" The woman blushed profusely as he looked at the last woman. Cal bowed his head graciously. "Thank you as well." he said.

Rita let the shock of his words settle as she looked around the room at her colleagues and knew he had guessed correctly what each person was feeling. "Does anyone have any questions?"

"No" could be heard in grumbles from around the room. Rita sighed as she pointed towards the door. "You can all leave."

The people in the room shot Cal glances ranging from embarrassment to anger to shock to appreciation.

Rita waited until the room cleared out until she leaned back in her chair and laughed. "That was awesome."

Cal smiled with relief. "Thank you for thinking it was good enough."

Rita pushed a contract at him and shrugged. "This is our offer to publish your book. I recommend that you bite the bullet and pay whatever fees it takes to have your lawyer look it over but I have to be honest with you Dr. Lightman. We want to publish this book and instead of the usual games we've given you probably the best offer you're going to get."

Cal glanced at the sizeable offer and tried to school his face. "My wife is a lawyer so I'm going to get off pretty cheap. She's out of town but I'll send this to her and we'll go from there."

Rita waved her hand dismissively. "Give her email to my secretary. She'll send it right away. As soon as you've had a chance to talk it over, sign it and come back here for your check."

Cal's mind was reeling at the speed this had happened and he took a deep breath. "I don't know how to thank you."

Rita stood and offered her hand. "Are you kidding me? With the royalties and the sales we're anticipating we're both going to do pretty damn well."

Cal shook it and smiled warmly. "I'll get back to you soon."

Cal left and headed home with a spring in his step. He walked in the back door to hear the phone ringing.

"Ello…"

"Cal?"

"Hello, luv."

"Cal, I just got a contract sent to my email from a publishing company …"

"Did you read it?"

"Yeah, honey, I did."

"And?"

"And what the hell is going on? Did you take them the first couple chapters to your book?"

"No…I took them the whole book."

"You finished it?!"

"I did. Em spent the night at a friend's and I sat down and the words just poured out. I called Steve and he recommended me to a woman he knows at the University and I went to see her yesterday. Today she had me meet with her friend from the publishing company and they gave me the offer."

"Cal?! Honey, that's awesome. I'm so proud of you!"

"Not mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"I always thought you'd be the first one to read it."

"Well…I'll be the second one then."

"Uh, Zoe, probably about the tenth one to read it…they made me prove my science to a room full of execs."

"Oh, no…" Zoe closed her eyes knowing Cal had probably torn down everyone in the room.

"What?! I just said the truth."

"Yeah, I can only imagine how well that went over."

"They still made me an offer."

"Which was?" Zoe gasped when he said the amount. "Oh my God, Cal!"

"Yeah, luv, I know it'll pay off all of our debt, huh?"

"Yeah, and then some."

"So should I sign the contract?"

"Honey, it looks good to me."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, I'll go sign the papers tomorrow and pick up the check."

"I wish I was there to celebrate with you!"

"Yeah, Zoe, me too."

"I'll try to get home early!"

"I'll be here."

"Yeah, I know you will. Congratulations Cal."

"Love you, see ya soon."


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

 _ **The Innate Language of the Face**_

Cal's book was well received and several high ranking government agencies expressed interest in his work. He took a different job within the Pentagon and started a Deception Detection Program for the Defense Department. For two years, he worked on every type of case imaginable and slowly perfected his science.

The day came when he used his talents and submitted a report about a known terrorist. Due to human error, someone made a botched assassination attempt on that terrorist's life that resulted in the deaths of the man's innocent wife and child instead of him.

Cal was ordered to meet with the staff psychologist, Dr. Gillian Foster, on Thursday. He suspected that she was being used to discredit his work so that the government could cover up their mistake. He was crippled with guilt and a small part of him wondered if she would be able help him. Deep down he doubted it as he never truly let anyone see the real him. If anything, he knew he would never be able to trust her.

Gillian Foster had finished her schooling five years ago. After only a few short years, she had worked her way up to the head of the Psychology Department at the local hospital. She refused to allow her duties as department head to interfere with seeing her clients and her reputation for success quickly spread. She was shocked when she was offered a lucrative position at the Pentagon and it wasn't long before they sweetened the deal so much that she just couldn't refuse. Her sweet and gentle manner endeared her to everyone she worked with and within eleven short months, she had been promoted to staff psychologist.

It was a Tuesday night and Gillian was looking forward to celebrating her third wedding anniversary with her husband Alec. They were planning on going to the same romantic restaurant they had dined at on their first date.

She came out of the bathroom to find Alec was home and pacing the floor

"Hi, honey!" she called out sweetly.

Alec broke out into a huge grin. "Hey babe!" Are you ready to go?"

Gillian nodded. "Oh, yeah, I'm starving."

"Me too," Alec said as he stepped forward and hugged her warmly.

His hands automatically slid down her back to caress her bottom.

"Uh, uh!" Gillian objected as she stepped back. "Last year started that way and we ended up missing dinner."

Alec frowned as he thought back. "I believe we had chocolate pudding later that night."

Gillian pretended an anger she didn't feel. "Yes, and that was supposed to be for my lunch the following week."

"Okay, nice dinner and scrumptious dessert for you then home in bed so I can have my dessert." Alec laughed as he kissed her then led her out the door.

Gillian giggled as she playfully slapped at him.

They had a wonderful meal and enjoyed their time together. Alec quickly paid and they hopped in their car and headed home.

They had barely made it in their front door when Alec started stripping Gillian's dress off. She giggled as she slipped her shoulders out of the sleeves and headed towards their bedroom.

Alec undid her bra and watched as it slipped from her shoulders and fell to the floor. He stripped out of his own shirt and threw it to the floor then undid his belt as he walked to his side of the bed. He opened up the small drawer on his bedside table.

"Damn it!"

"What?" Gillian asked as she crawled across the bed and leaned against him.

"We're out?"

"Out?"

"We had that double header on Saturday…I meant to stop and get more and I forgot!"

Gillian sat back and patted the bed next to her. "Alec, we've talked about this a million times, maybe its time to finally stop using protection."

Alec sighed as he stood up and shook his head. "Gillian, you just started out at the Pentagon and I'm still working my way up the ladder. I don't think I'm ready for a baby right now, maybe in another year when we're more established in our careers…"

Gillian hid her disappointment but unwilling to start an argument she nodded. "Um…well…then…"

Alec leaned in and kissed her. "I'll run to the store…be back in twenty minutes."

"Okay…be careful." Gillian said quietly.

Alec left and Gillian changed into a slinky negligee. She heard a noise in the kitchen and smiled curiously as she opened the door to her bedroom.

"Alec…"

Standing in front of her in the hallway was a person completely dressed in black, wearing a face mask and dark sunglasses.

Gillian screamed and tried to shut the door to lock herself in the bedroom but the figure stepped forward and blocked the door.

"Please don't hurt me…please don't hurt me…please don't hurt me…." Gillian repeated over and over as she stumbled back and held her hand out in front of her.

The man held up a hand to silence her and Gillian whimpered when she realized he wasn't coming any closer.

"I'm not here to hurt you but _I will_ hurt your husband if he comes back too quickly."

"What do you want?" Gillian gasped.

"You have an appointment Thursday with Dr. Cal Lightman."

Gillian frowned in confusion as she searched her memory of her calendar on her desk. "Um…I don't know…I'm not sure…"

"I am…I'm here to tell you how you're going to handle your sessions with him. Do you know why he's coming to see you?"

Gillian's heart was racing as she tried to make sense of what was going on and she shook her head no to indicate her answer.

"Dr. Lightman is being sent to you to discuss his part in the death of the family of a known terrorist. You need to listen to him, discount his beliefs of a government cover-up and advise him to keep quiet about his findings."

"I won't discuss my therapy sessions with my current patients or my future patients with you," Gillian said with false bravado

"Did you know Dr. Lightman has a wife at home?" The man tossed a picture of a young girl at Gillian. "That's his nine year old daughter Emily, isn't she a beautiful little girl…"

"Yes," Gillian said as she looked down at the smiling face of a little brown haired girl.

"If you can't get Dr. Lightman to back off, Jimmy Doyle won't be the only one to lose a wife and daughter."

Gillian took a deep breath as the man slipped from her house as quickly as he came in. Gillian sat down on the bed and began to shake violently.

She was crying hysterically when Alec walked in a few minutes later.

"Got 'em, hon…Gill?" Alec frowned when he saw her face. "Honey, what's wrong? Did someone die?"

He drew her in his arms as she cried. It seemed like forever before she took a deep shuddering breath and Alec finally felt her stop shaking.

"Gillian, what happened?"

Gillian shook her head and climbed under the covers. Alec frowned as he took off his clothes and slipped in next to her and pulled her to his chest. She scooted closer to him and put her head over his heart. She slowly began to relax as he gently rubbed his hand up and down her back. Gillian finally fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Alec woke first and frowned when he went out to get the paper and found the front door unlocked. Dismissing it, he bent over to pick the paper up off the porch then started to read it on the way back to the kitchen.

He started the coffee and was pouring a cup when Gillian walked in. She smiled weakly at him as he handed her his cup then turned to grab another one for himself.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, how are you feeling?"

"I'm okay, Alec, I'm sorry about last night."

Alec frowned at her. "Honey…don't be sorry…" he said as he enclosed her in his embrace.

Gillian felt herself relax against him. "I ruined our anniversary night."

Alec leaned back and kissed her forehead. "That's only one night, baby we've got the rest of our lives to enjoy each other."

Gillian smiled at him. "Yeah, we do."

Alec kissed her forehead as he patted her shoulder. "Why don't we both take off of work and go shopping today?"

Gillian laughed aloud. "You hate shopping!"

Alec shrugged. "But I like spending time with you and _you_ like shopping so…how about we get out of here? We'll go out for breakfast, head over to the mall, you can try on every dress on both floors then we'll head home."

"I'd like that but there won't be much for you to enjoy so how about you stop worrying about me and we get ready for work and forget last night ever happened and tonight…we'll celebrate… "

Alec's brows rose in surprise as he realized that option sounded much better. "Okay, I'll cook breakfast and you go get ready…or we can skip breakfast and go right to…" his hands grabbed for her.

Gillian giggled as she slapped him. "Hey!"

Alec laughed and pulled her close as he kissed her. "Bacon and eggs or pancakes?"

"Um…bacon and eggs."

Gillian tried to clear her mind of the terrifying incident but when she went to work, she immediately looked at her calendar. Scheduled for Thursday, March 20th, was the name Dr. Cal Lightman.

Gillian schooled herself to wait for her standing morning meeting. Every morning, her secretary Kelly, came in and handed her a stack of paperwork. They contained the files for the patients that she would be seeing that day. Gillian liked to be able to review the cases before the patients came in and it was easier to do that if she had them ahead of time.

Right on schedule, Kelly walked in. "Here you go, Dr. Foster."

Gillian took the stack of files from her. "Thanks, Kelly."

Kelly took her usual seat to wait for Gillian's questions.

On the top of the stack were the new patients and Gillian asked all of the appropriate questions on the files as she seemingly breezed through them.

Her hands shook slightly when she saw the name she'd been waiting for. She perused the file then frowned at the lack of paperwork. "What can you tell me about Dr. Lightman?"

Kelly shrugged. "Only that he didn't make the appointment." Gillian blinked in surprise then frowned as she looked back down at the page while Kelly continued. "Henry Andrews ordered this visit. Dr. Lightman was told to come and see you. Andrews did express concern that he wasn't sure if Dr. Lightman was actually going to show up or not."

Gillian rolled her eyes knowing that a patient who was forced to speak was never open to counseling. "Well, we'll just have to see what happens."

Gillian worked her way through the rest of the files then smiled at Kelly. "Okay, let's start the day then…"

Kelly left and Gillian leafed back to Cal Lightman's file. She opened it then frowned. She hesitated for only a second before she picked up the phone.

"Andrews," a voice answered abruptly.

"Henry this is Gillian Foster."

"Gillian! How are you?"

"I'm good, Henry, how are you?"

Henry chuckled. "I'm good and Patti's good and I'm betting Alec is doing pretty well himself so why don't we skip through the rest of this and talk about Lightman."

Gillian smiled at his straightforward approach. "That would speed this up, wouldn't it?"

Henry sighed as he sat back in his seat. "Lightman's being sent to you because he needs to talk about his part in the death of a terrorist's family."

Gillian sighed as she realized her _visitor_ the other night had been speaking the truth about her future patient.

"He killed someone?"

"No…not directly…Cal Lightman is a scientist and he created a science based on reading people…"

"Reading people?"

"Their facial expressions…body language…stuff like that. He even wrote a book on it called _As You Do The Innate Language of the Face"_ Gillian jotted down the title as he continued. "Gill…look…to be honest…the guy's brilliant, odd as shit but he has a brilliant mind. He single handedly started a Deception Detection Program here for us and has taken to training a few key people to follow his scientific teachings. To be honest, these guys now have about a 97% success rate."

Gillian frowned when she heard something in his voice that didn't quite ring true with his praise of Cal Lightman. "So, the 3% failure rate we're not talking about…does that have to do with the deaths you spoke of earlier?"

"You're not an easy woman to fool, Gillian," Henry chuckled derisively. "Um…yeah, I ordered Lightman to talk to you. He needs to put this incident behind him and move on."

Gillian nodded. "Okay, so he's really just coming here to get counseling?"

"Sort of…I'm really counting on you to do your best, Gillian."

Gillian thought of the threat to Lightman's family and sighed as she nodded. "I always do my best for all my patients."

"I know you do, take care Gillian."

"You too, Henry."

Gillian opened her mail to find a copy of Dr. Lightman's book. She read the first few chapters then glanced at her clock and read a few more, intrigued with his ideas; she set it to the side with thoughts to read the rest of it later.

It was late in the day when Kelly sent in the last appointment.

"Dr. Lightman." Gillian smiled warmly as she made her way across the room to shake hands and introduce herself to her newest patient.

"Dr. Foster."

"It's nice to meet you."

"How do you do?"

Gillian walked back to her desk to grab her notes.

"Apparently my job here depends on my meeting with you," Cal blatantly announced.

Gillian startled at his straightforwardness but remained quiet and let him talk.

"So did they tell you all about me then? Did they also tell you why they sent me here?" Cal was extremely uncomfortable as he looked around her room and assessed the office. "So they can officially diagnose me as broke…in the head…" he finally chanced a look at her to read her reactions to his next words. "…No longer reliable…not to be taken seriously."

Gillian could tell in his voice that he was uncomfortable and she rushed to immediately put him at ease. "I'm here to help you Dr. Lightman…not judge you or rubber stamp anyone's attempts to discredit you or your science. Which by the way happens to be of great interest to me…"

Cal looked closely at the woman as she spoke. He relaxed when he saw the sincerity in her eyes and facial expressions. He wondered briefly if she was as sweet as she seemed.

"Oh yeah…is this session being recorded?"

"This office is for therapy and counseling only. I would not tolerate anyone recording what is being said in here.

Cal frowned as he walked around her room. He couldn't detect any form of deception in her body and he swallowed hard against his desire to trust her.

"So you're the in house shrink, are you?"

"I'm a psychologist."

It seemed like he was indifferent to her but he was surprised when he looked down to see his book sitting on a table. He immediately put up his wall of defense. "Oh yeah, psych ops…so a dirty tricks brigade…eh?"

Gillian tried to take control of the session. "Speaking of dirty tricks…"

Cal knew instantly that she had made the jump to the Doyle case. "See, that wasn't supposed to happen?"

"Well, now that it has happened, how do you feel about it?"

Cal held up his book and waved it at her. "Is this a plant? I mean…is this supposed to soften me up?"

Gillian smiled at his suspicious nature and decided to tease him. "Yes, that's exactly what it is."

"Well, its working." Cal smiled at her honest answer and her ability to hop from topic to topic with him.

Gillian chuckled and could tell in his voice that he was much more relaxed then when he first came in. She watched as he sloppily plopped down on her couch.

In an instant, Cal had decided to come clean with the story. "Three days ago, I was undercover in a bar in Boston…all right…four IRA men from Belfast were there to talk about peace agreement with their American money, they were feeling the pinch from their war on terror and my read on one of these IRA men, Jimmy Doyle, was that he was about to ruin the peace. And someone in this building took that as licensed to kill him. I mean the morons messed it up and they killed his wife and daughter instead. How do you think I feel?"

Gillian could hear the guilt in his voice as he related the details of the deaths of the two innocent people. From what little she knew from the newspapers, his guilt was unfounded.

"The paper says they caught the two men who robbed and killed Mary and Bernadette Doyle."

"Well, Darling that's a…a cover-up. That's two junkies with records framed and flushed down the toilet as we speak…I mean come on you're an intelligent woman…"

"You feel responsible…ashamed…guilty."

"My daughter is the same age as that little dead girl."

"That's empathy, which is healthy but doesn't make you guilty. So where is this Doyle now?"

"He got away."

"Are you sure he's a terrorist?"

"Oh yeah…yeah…even more so now that we murdered his family."

Cal told her he wanted to go public with what he believed was a botched Pentagon hit. To prevent him from doing that or at least to discredit his mental state if he tried, his boss sent him to see her.

Gillian frowned as she started to weave her web of deceit. "I'd like to talk about your family…"

Cal looked at her suspiciously. "Yeah…no…why?"

"Your wife Zoe, your daughter Emily…"

"Off limits."

"It must be quite a strain, juggling family with the type of work you do…"

"No it's not…I mean…not if your family comes first its not."

Gillian ignored him as she moved forward. "…Not to mention the dangerous set of circumstances you clearly believe yourself to be in right now."

Cal realized her words were a subtle warning to him and he shot to his feet nervously. "All right, I get it…it's loud and clear…it's all I need to hear…and if you tell them, I'll go quietly all right…just leave my family alone."

Gillian knew he meant to walk out and she started to panic and tried to draw him back. "Dr. Lightman that's not what I meant."

"Now you're calling me paranoid are you?"

"I was referring to Doyle still being out there somewhere."

Cal thought he had seen something flash across her face but he wasn't sure so he took a step towards her. "You're trying to tell me something else only you can't…why is that?" Gillian's face flashed fear for the briefest microsecond but Cal saw it. "There it is again. Thank you very much."

He walked out the door and Gillian frowned as she walked back to her desk and slammed her folder of notes down on the desk. "Damn it!"

Gillian sat at her desk then reviewed their conversation in her mind. She realized she actually liked Dr. Lightman, she could tell that he was a decent, caring man who was riddled with guilt. Her mind raced with trying to find a way to help him but not reveal the things that she knew.

Lightman left Foster's office and shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked outside of the building. He was worried about the precarious position he had put his family in and he swallowed hard that he had, in a roundabout way, just been warned by Foster. He hesitated and sat down on a bench. As he held his head in his hands, he thought of the honesty he read on her face. He had taken a liking to her until her face revealed signs of fear and worry and he felt she was hiding something from him. His distrust flared further when she brought up Zoe and Emily. He felt his stomach clench with dread as he shot to his feet, intent on getting away from it all.

He walked for several blocks and debated whether he wanted to walk away from his job and just start over somewhere else or continue with the program he founded.

An hour later, he walked into the back door of his house.

Zoe was home and cooking at the stove. "Hi, honey!"

"Hello, darling."

Cal kissed her and let his head rest against her forehead, taking a moment to find comfort in her closeness.

Zoe blinked at him with confusion. "Cal, what is it?"

"Nothing."

Zoe knew he had a counseling session today and she frowned at him. "How did your session go?"

Cal shrugged as he took off his coat. "I walked out."

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Well that's helpful! Glad you took the time to talk to someone about whatever's bothering you."

"Yeah…well…" he shrugged indifferently as he walked upstairs.

Four days later, his attitude was no better. As he walked inside the back door, Zoe pinned him with a glare. "You're late…did your phone break?"

"Not now…" Cal warned as he made his way towards his office.

"What do you mean…not now?!" Zoe slammed down the spoon she was cooking with. "You know, you haven't touched me in three days. I can get over that, I mean, I don't always feel like doing it every night either. I can see that whatever the problem is; is taking a toll on you and I really don't care that you don't trust me enough to tell me your deep dark secrets but when your attitude starts effecting Emily I've got issues."

"What's Emily got to do with this?"

"You've been a complete ass. Emily's afraid to come near you and if you hadn't been so wrapped up in whatever's bothering you, maybe you would have noticed!"

Cal thought about his time with Emily lately. Normally, he dropped everything he was doing when she came to him and he realized in the past few days he had not been there for her. Tuesday, she asked him to make cupcakes for a bake sale that Zoe had promised to make for her and had inadvertently forgotten about, normally he would have covered for his wife but Emily woke on Wednesday to find that Cal had let her down as well. Then Thursday she asked him for help with a science project over the weekend. She needed him to go to the hardware store with her. Cal had promised he would make a frame for a three way board that had hinges on it so it could be closed up. Cal left early in the morning and didn't come home until well after dark that night. Emily had cried almost all day and Zoe took her to the store and bought all of the things she thought Cal could use. Cal opened the garage door and blinked in surprise to see a table with different sized wooden boards on it. He frowned when he walked closer and saw his diagram for the board he promised to make Emily. He opened the bag on the table and brought out three different kinds of various sized hinges and then looked at the receipt. Zoe must've taken Emily to the hardware store with Cal's diagram. Not knowing exactly what to buy she got various sizes of everything hoping that Cal would be able to use the items she bought. He frowned as he whipped off his jacket and threw it on top of her car. He grabbed the first piece of wood and then started to make the project. An hour later, he had a completed three way board and he smiled weakly at it. He knew he had let Emily down but he hoped that she would be grateful it was completed. He had carried it into the house and set it against the wall in the kitchen.

Zoe had walked around from the stove to stand in front of Cal. She realized he felt guilty and sighed. "I've let her down too Cal, more times then I care to admit and I can't believe I'm saying this about you but you've always been the solid one. Emily needs you to make this right."

Cal frowned as he looked at her then came forward and squeezed her arm gently as he kissed her temple. "Yeah…upstairs then?"

Zoe nodded and Cal steeled himself to face the consequences of his actions. He walked upstairs then knocked lightly on Emily's door before he sheepishly let himself into her room.

"Hello, luv," Cal said as he glanced from the bed to find her sitting at her desk.

"Is dinner ready?" Emily asked distractedly as she picked up her ruler and began to carefully measure out something on her paper.

Cal cringed when she realized she hadn't bothered to look up at him and he walked over to lean in and kiss the top of her head then caress the back of her hair down the length of her back.

He showed his affection for her all the time but lately he had been so distant, Emily wondered at the change in attitude and looked at him curiously.

"Soon, I think." Cal answered her question about dinner as he frowned that his routine gesture of affection had been unexpected and he wondered how a few days could affect the solid relationship he and Emily had always had.

Emily shrugged then turned back to her paper. "Okay."

"Em…" Cal asked as he turned her in her chair and pulled it gently across the floor so he could sit on the edge of the bed and talk to her. "Em…look at my face and tell me if you see anything…"

Emily frowned at him. "What?"

"You know me as well as anyone, tell me what you think I'm feeling…"

Emily stared at him like he had grown a third eye. "Dad, I have no idea what…"

Cal reached for her hands and squeezed. "Darling, shush for one second and look at my eyes and face and tell me what you see…"

Emily scrunched up her nose and stared at Cal. When an expression crossed her face, Cal brightened and nodded at her. "Right there…tell me what your first thought was…"

"You had that same look on your face when you came in my room to tell me Mickey died."

"I did and what was it you think I was feeling at that time?"

"Sadness…you were sad that Mickey died."

Cal rolled his eyes and smiled at her attempt but still wanted to use this time to educate her. "He was a hamster, Em, how sad do you think I was about his death?"

Emily grinned when she remembered the faces he would make when she asked him to hold Mickey while she cleaned his cage. She began to giggle then grew serious and then looked puzzled. "You still looked sad that day."

"At's cause I knew you loved Mickey and I had to tell you that one of your best friends passed away."

Emily looked down as she thought for a second then back at him when she realized the truth. "You were trying to protect me and didn't want me to be sad…"

"At's right, darling." Cal said as he pushed her hair and tucked it behind her ear.

Emily's brow furrowed. "So why have you been sad lately?"

Cal took a deep breath. "Something happened at work Em, I made a mistake and some people got hurt because of it."

"Are you in trouble?"

"I don't know…"

"Maybe Mom can help get you out of it…"

Cal smiled at the innocence of his daughter. "Not this time, luv, I'm afraid mum's expertise in law won't be able to help me…"

Emily thought quickly. "You always tell me to go to the teacher or principal if I have a problem…can't you go to your boss or someone else for help?"

Cal thought about Gillian Foster. He wondered if he had shut out his one chance at finding someone who could help him. He wondered if she was trustworthy.

"Dad…" Cal blinked and focused back on his daughter. "Will it help if I give you a hug?"

"You bet it would!" Cal smiled warmly that she had forgiven him and he opened his arms.

Emily crawled onto his lap and threw her arms around his neck. "I love you, Daddy!"

Cal hugged her tightly and breathed in her familiar smell. He smiled into her neck as he gave her a kiss on the shoulder. "Oi! That hug made me feel a lot better!"

Emily smiled and rubbed her nose against his. "Eskimos kisses too!"

Cal chuckled and kissed her forehead then pushed her from his lap as he stood. He walked over to her desk and grabbed the paper she was working on. "So is this the project I royally messed up helping you with?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "It's not royally messed up until Monday."

"So I still have time to make it right?" Cal wondered.

"Yep!"

Zoe called out from downstairs. "You guys hungry?"

Cal grabbed more paper and pens and the ruler. "Let's work on the ideas through dinner then after you shower we can sit and try and get these ideas on the boards while this mop on top of your head dries." He had fluffed out his daughter's long thick curls.

"Thanks, Dad." Emily said as they made their way down to the kitchen.

Emily sat and listened to her parent's ideas and together the three of them came up with a project that was sure to get Emily an A+ grade.

Zoe excused herself to take a shower while Cal and Emily continued to transfer the ideas to the display boards. She went to bed early and was almost asleep when she felt Cal climb into bed and cuddle up against her.

She scooted her butt up against his groin and sighed. Cal wondered briefly if he had been forgiven and he gently rubbed her lower back as he moved his hands around to the front and he made his way to her breasts.

Zoe smiled and turned in his arms and kissed him roughly. Cal knew everything was all right and sprang into action as they frantically tore each other's clothes off.

It was late in the afternoon again when Cal went back in to see Gillian Foster.

"I could listen to that all day," he announced as he walked in and referred to the light jazz she had playing in the background.

Gillian startled with surprise when he walked onto her office. She walked over to her radio and turned off the music as she tried to control her racing emotions. She was shocked that he felt comfortable enough with her to come back and she grasped at trying to keep things light. "I thought we were done."

Cal ignored her attempts at friendliness and got right to the point. "Who's threatening my family?"

"Dr. Lightman…"

Cal saw something flash across her face and he knew he was right. "You see…cause I can see it in your eyes…it's all over your face…it's as clear as day…I'd just like to know who it is and what it is that I'm dealing with here."

Gillian knew she had no time to try to gain his trust but she schooled her features. "I asked you about your family like any therapist would ask any patient." Cal studied her face and saw her try to school her features. "Maybe you're having difficulty looking for a lie because there isn't one to find."

Cal wavered uncertainly at her duplicity. He could see she was hiding something but her honesty was refreshing and he wanted to trust her. "I thought your lot called patients, clients these days?"

She waved him off dismissively. "Listen…you don't have to talk about your family with me. But you should find someone."

Cal knew at that moment she was trying to help him and he flopped down in a nearby chair. "You know my wife…she doesn't know about any of this."

Gillian realized they had taken a step forward and she moved into therapist mode. "Would you like to talk to her about it if you could?"

Cal thought she had misinterpreted him. "No…no I don't mean about my work in general, I mean about this Doyle mess."

"So do I."

"No, no I would not like to tell her about it…it would hurt her too much."

Gillian was intrigued by his duplicity. "Why did you choose to work in counter terrorism? It is a choice."

"Well, the power of a terrorist lies in the fear of the innocent. I want to um take that power away."

"Why?"

"I've got a daughter."

"You know that in the war against terror there's often collateral damage, as awful as that sounds."

Cal couldn't get the faces of the innocent woman and her child out of his mind and he realized Gillian had been speaking. "I'm sorry...what are you saying?"

"Some collateral damage can be avoided."

Cal tried to hide his anger as he realized she may be hinting at the danger his family was in. "Are you talking about my Emily?"

Gillian knew he had taken the hint at the small amount of insight she had been able to give him. "We would be irresponsible not to talk about Emily."

Cal sat for several minutes without speaking as he weighed her words carefully. The guilt of what had happened washed over him and he thought not only about the deaths of Jimmy Doyle's wife and daughter but the dangerous position he put his whole family in.

Then he thought of the lives that were saved by his decision and he confessed to Dr. Foster what he was feeling. "I was the one that told them…I said that the only way to fight terrorism is to fight like a terrorist. I meant that. So when I read that Doyle was a threat I knew they'd kill him I wanted them to kill him."

Gillian was able to decipher his feelings and she reached out to him tentatively. "Do you think you can forgive yourself?"

Cal looked at her briefly then looked away again in disgust. He fought against the impulse to answer her quickly knowing that whatever he said would be a lie so he decided to tell her how he really felt.

"There's a little girl that's never going to drive a car or go to prom…get her first kiss…all because of a report that I made." Cal's voice hitched as he looked down.

"No, Dr. Lightman…" Gillian tried to get him to look at her. "Cal…" when she called him by his first name he did look up. "Your assessment of Jimmy Doyle was probably correct. He was the intended target and whether or not he deserved to be the target is another issue but nothing else that happened that night is your fault."

Cal could see the truth behind her words and he sighed as he nodded weakly. "Yeah, thanks for saying that."

"You're welcome."

Suddenly, Cal shot to his feet and with a nod at her walked out the door.

Gillian was taken aback at his abrupt departure then she frowned when she realized that both sessions had ended with him walking out. She shook her head with exasperation as she got up and walked back to her desk, flipping on the radio again as she walked past.

A week later, Cal walked into her office again, unannounced.

Gillian clamped down on her anger at his total disregard for her schedule as she held her hands out to her sides. "I don't recall you making an appointment…"

"At's 'cause I didn't."

He slumped in her chair and stared at the floor.

Assuming he wanted to talk, Gillian settled herself into the chair across from him. She waited patiently for him to speak. Several times he looked up at her and seemed like he was going to begin but for the first ten minutes he didn't say a word.

Gillian looked to her side and saw his book on the shelf behind her chair. She picked it up and began to read it again. She was three chapters in before he spoke.

"Are you enjoying it?" Gillian ignored him and Cal's brows rose in surprise as he leaned forward. "Dr. Foster?" he said louder.

Gillian's head snapped up and she blushed as she realized he had been talking to her. "I'm sorry."

Cal smiled at her with amusement. "I asked if you're enjoying it."

Realizing he wasn't fishing for a compliment but actually cared about her opinion she smiled at him. "Um…well…yes, I am. I meant to read it last week but my husband and I've been busy and I just haven't gotten a chance to."

"You're married?" Gillian nodded and Cal smiled. "Oh, yeah…how long?"

"Three years."

"Practically newlyweds."

"Not really, we work hard at it but it also helps if you're madly in love like we are."

Cal looked away but not before Gillian was able to see him roll his eyes. Assuming he was making fun of her, she bristled. "I'm sorry…I guess I thought that all people that were married were in love…" she snapped automatically then realized she sounded bitchy. She softened her voice. "Are you and your wife struggling?"

Cal thought about his volatile relationship with Zoe and shrugged. "It's like you said it's hard work but I got my Em, so it's worth it."

"How long have you been married?"

"Nine years."

Knowing his daughter was nine as well, Gillian realized his wife had probably been pregnant when they wed. She schooled her features. "You've been together three times longer than my husband and I, when did the honeymoon stage end?"

Thinking about their early marriage, Cal pursed his lips. "About two weeks after Emily was born. Newlyweds and exhaustion don't mix well, but it got better after Emily got a little older."

"How is it now?"

"Wonderful." Cal smiled but Gillian frowned when she heard inflection in his voice.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Cal came in for three more sessions. He had quickly come to trust her and felt so comfortable with her that they developed a type of friendship and their sessions often lasted several hours.

Two weeks later, Foster heard through the grapevine that Lightman had left the Defense Department. She sighed when she realized she would miss their weekly talks.


	5. Chapter 5

_**CHAPTER 5**_

It was six months later when Cal Lightman walked unannounced into her office once again.

"Dr. Lightman." she gasped as she looked up from her desk.

"Foster," Cal smiled as he quickly walked over and held out his hand to shake hers. "Don't get up."

Gillian smiled at his informality then frowned. "I was told that you left."

"Yeah, I did."

"And I didn't warrant a goodbye?"

Gillian's face had flashed a look of hurt which she quickly covered but not before Cal had seen it. He was surprised she even cared he had stopped coming to see her and he cocked his head at her. "I…uh…I'm sorry. I really am…I guess I wasn't thinking…Why would you care?"

"You were my patient, Dr. Lightman, I thought we were making headway…I thought I was helping you…"

Cal was flabbergasted. His talks with Gillian were the only reason he had found the strength to continue. He had been riddled with guilt but as they had talked about it, he was able to find a way to work through it all and get his head on straight.

"I guess I was wrong," Gillian muttered quietly.

Cal shook his head. "That's not true, Darling…you're the _**only**_ reason I'm still here." Gillian's head shot up as she looked at him. "I was in a horrible place and you helped me get back…" Cal shrugged as he held up his hands in defeat. "I don't even know where to begin to thank you…I…"

Gillian smiled warmly as she leaned forward in her seat. "You don't need to thank me, it's my job to help my patients and I'm really glad I was able to help you."

Cal realized she had forgiven him for his casual dismissal of their relationship and smiled weakly. "Thank you…I could use your help now…"

Gillian frowned at the sound of frustration she heard in his voice. "You're not my patient anymore; in fact, I don't think you even work here…"

"No, I don't…but I still need help." Cal admitted.

Gillian walked around her desk and sat in a chair across from him. "Problems with your wife…is Emily okay?" she said worriedly.

Cal grinned that she had remembered his daughter's name. "No, they're fine. I…um…I started my own agency, I work for myself now. I…uh…do independent work for different agencies." Gillian nodded as Cal continued. "I have a case I need help with…"

Gillian frowned as she leaned forward in her seat. "I was serious when I told you your science fascinates but other than reading your book a few times I don't know how can I help you?"

Cal sighed. "I need your help…as a psychologist."

"Go on."

"I can't pay you much…"

Gillian could see how upset he was and knew he must be desperate to reach out to her and she waved her hand dismissively. "Dr. Lightman it's not always about money…"

Cal looked at her with relief and he took a deep breath. "A month ago, a young mum was discovered dead in her house. A police report claimed it was suicide…"

Gillian sighed as she heard the catch in his voice. "But you don't believe the report…"

"The evidence fits but…" Cal stopped as he swallowed hard.

Gillian leaned forward in her seat. "But something is making you question their findings…"

Cal started to pace the room. "She has two small girls…seven and five…I want to make sure they don't grow up thinking their mum chose checking out over being with them…"

Cal had unshed tears in his eyes as he looked at Gillian. Gillian was surprised that the case was taking this much of a toll on him. She blinked back her own tears at the thought of what these poor little girls must be going through and wondered how their dad was coping. "The father?"

Cal rolled his eyes as he looked out the window. "Showing all the appropriate signs of grief…"

Gillian cocked her head to the side as she heard the tone in his voice. "You're questioning his level of grief?"

"No, but I think his grief is for his daughters. I don't think he gives a crap whether his wife is dead or not…he's lying about something."

Gillian shook her head to dispel her own thoughts so she could take a look at the facts. "What can you tell me about the case?"

Cal looked at her with relief. "I have the file at my house…would you be willing to meet me so I can show you everything?"

"Of course…"

"My office is temporarily in my kitchen…"

Gillian smiled and shrugged indifferently. "That's okay. Everyone has to start somewhere."

Cal rattled off his address. "Look…I don't care when you come, name the time and I'll be there."

Gillian looked at her desk calendar. "Well, I'm through for the day. I could follow you right now."

"Really?!" Cal jumped up eagerly as Gillian nodded, "Let's go then."

He walked with her to her car then hopped in next to her and guided her to where he was parked.

"Follow me," he asked as he slipped from her car.

Gillian began to worry that he would be one of those agents that sped from place to place knowing that the local police would probably not issue them a ticket after being flashed Pentagon credentials.

She was pleasantly surprised to find that Cal was indeed a safe driver and she was easily able to follow him home.

Cal waited for her to get out until he escorted her inside.

"Zoe and Em aren't home yet, can I get you something to drink…tea, coffee…wine, beer, scotch…"

Gillian blinked with surprise then looked at the clock on the wall. "It's 3:30 in the afternoon…"

Cal grinned at her. "Coffee it is then…"

He quickly pushed a file folder at her then turned and started to make a fresh pot of coffee.

Gillian sat and opened the file then began to read. She frowned a few times as she read through the detailed report.

"Cream? Sugar?" Cal asked.

"Uh huh…lots…" Gillian answered distractedly.

Cal sat a steaming mug of coffee down in front of her and she sipped at it as she leafed through the pages.

Cal paced the room and remained quiet but continued to pass anxious glances her way.

She got to the last page then closed the file and looked at Cal. "The evidence strongly suggests that she killed herself."

Cal nodded. "I know that! Don't you think I know that…?" Gillian looked at him with confusion as Cal stepped closer. "Darling, I was hoping that you could maybe _see_ something that no one else could…"

Gillian chuckled at him and when she realized he was serious she shook her head and started to reread through the files. "Well…there was this one thing, something that the husband said during questioning…"

"What…"

Gillian scanned looking for the correct words. "Here…he said that she had been depressed lately and that she had removed herself from contact with anyone."

"At's not true, her sister said she had spoken to her the day before and she seemed fine and her best friend…" Cal frowned as he glanced at the file to search for the name.

Gillian finished his thought for him. "Linda...Her best friend said that they had spoken that morning and that Marisa had outlined all the things she had to do that day as well as how she was looking forward to her daughter's dance recital."

The back door opened and Gillian grinned as a head of dark curly hair ran towards them. "Hey, Dad!"

"Hello, Luv."

The young girl noticed Gillian and blushed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, my name's Emily."

Gillian smiled warmly and extended her hand. "Hi Emily, I'm Gillian."

"Dr. Foster is helping me with a case…scram!" he stood and kissed her forehead to soften his words before he went over to grab the coffee pot.

"Wow…rude much?"

Cal rolled his eyes. "What?! We're working here…"

Emily made a disgusted face at him then turned to Gillian. "It was really nice meeting you Gillian."

"You too, Emily."

A beautiful dark haired woman walked in a few seconds later. She had on what can only be described as a power suit along with a dark gray frilly blouse that was buttoned low and showed an ample amount of cleavage as well as a peak at her bright pink bra. She was statuesque and had an air of authority about her. Gillian felt frumpy as she looked down at her practical pale blue blouse and straight black pants. She watched as the woman turned expectantly to Cal with a question in her eyes.

Cal waved his hand dismissively as he made another pot of coffee. "Wife…shrink…"

Zoe sighed in disgust as she walked over when she saw that Gillian had extended her hand. "Gillian Foster…"

Zoe smirked. "Zoe."

"It's nice to finally meet you Mrs. Lightman…" Gillian smiled warmly.

"Oh, I'm not a Lightman…I mean…I kept my maiden name…professional reasons…"

Gillian was old fashioned and felt it was a sign of respect for the sanctity of a marriage for the woman to take the man's name. She clamped down on her emotions and blushed as she looked at Zoe. "Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed…"

Zoe waved her hand dismissively. "It was also for self preservation. I work for the state department and sometimes being tied to Cal Lightman can be harmful...right honey?"

Cal blinked against the pain her words caused then quickly shut down his emotions. "Whatever you say, Luv…"

Gillian had been watching him and she could hear the pain in his voice when he spoke. She frowned and looked away and pretended to go back to reading the files.

Zoe walked towards Cal. "So what's going on?"

Cal knew she wondered what Dr. Foster was doing here. "I asked Foster to consult with me on a case…"

"You're stumped?!" Zoe raised her brows with surprise. "Which case is it?"

Cal looked down and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Williams…"

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Oh, Jesus! Give it a rest will you? That woman committed suicide…it's as simple as that…" She spat her words angrily then headed up the steps. "I'm going to change…"

Gillian swallowed hard as she felt herself feeling sympathy for Cal. "Maybe I should go."

"Don't Dr. Foster…please…look…will you come with me to talk to the husband?"

Gillian looked surprised then turned to look at him curiously. "Um…sure…when?"

"Now."

"Now?!" she glanced at the clock and realized it was at least three hours before Alec would be home. She wavered uncertainly.

"Please?"

"Um...sure."

Cal grabbed the folder. "I'm heading out; I'll be back in a few," he announced loudly up the steps.

"Okay," Emily shouted. "Will you get some milk?"

Cal rolled his eyes. "Yeah!"

Emily raced down the stairs. "Peanut Butter too…oh and some bread, the last pieces were moldy…"

Cal looked at her pointedly. "Anything else?"

Emily smiled smugly at him. "Nope unless you want something…"

"Freedom from responsibility…"

"You shouldn't have had a kid then…" Emily snorted as she turned to walk upstairs.

Cal hid his grin. "Or at least have one that's less sassy and shows her dad her appreciation!"

"I love you, Daddy!" the sarcastic reply came down.

Cal rolled his eyes and grabbed his keys. "I'll drive."

Gillian grabbed her purse and followed him to his car. She was pleasantly surprised when he held open the door for her.

"Thank you…"

Cal smiled then went around to his side.

Thirty five minutes later, they pulled up in front of a beautiful house in the suburbs. It had manicured lawns and beautifully tended flower beds.

Cal looked pointedly at Gillian. "Tell me…why would someone who is so depressed that she's bordering on suicide, care about the outside of her house?"

Gillian realized he was right but she frowned. "Maybe they have a gardener?"

Cal shook his head. "Doubt it…they were having financial troubles…"

Gillian thought about the implications as they made their way to the front porch. Cal knocked loudly then stepped back.

A handsome middle aged man opened the door. "Yes…"

No one said anything and Gillian looked repeatedly at Cal.

The man started to look aggravated. "Can I help you?"

Gillian quickly realized Cal wasn't going to say anything and she balked.

"Um…I'm Dr. Gillian Foster and this is…"

"Her partner…Cal Lightman…" Cal said as he stuck his hand out and shook ' hand.

"Partners? Are you the police?" Mr. Williams said with confusion.

"No, our firm was actually retained by the police department to aide you at this horrible time." Cal lied easily.

Gillian's eyes grew wide at his lies. He had told this man they were partners and owned a firm together. She wondered what other tricks he had up his sleeve.

"Dr. Foster is a psychologist and the police thought she might be able to help your two daughters cope with the death of their mum."

Williams' face softened as he thought of his distraught daughters. "I have had a hard time this week…"

He ushered them inside and pointed towards the kitchen.

Cal placed his hand on Gillian's back and guided her forward.

William motioned towards the chairs. "Take a seat…can I get you anything?"

"Water?" Cal asked as Gillian declined anything. She looked at Cal as he leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Take over from here, Luv."

Williams handed Cal a glass of water with ice then sat down and wrung his hands. "I wasn't expecting this…"

"Death is always hard, especially when the kids are so young." Gillian frowned, "Before I talk to them, can I ask you exactly what happened…"

"You mean why did she kill herself?"

Gillian frowned at his matter of fact tone and tried to soften her words. "I know how hard this must be for you…"

"She'd been really depressed lately, barely able to get out of bed."

"Had something happened recently to set her off?" Gillian wondered.

Williams licked his lips and swallowed hard. "I haven't told anyone this…not even the police…Marisa lost a baby recently…well we think she did…she was about three weeks late and took one of those home pregnancy tests. It showed positive and she made an appointment but two weeks later she got her…"

He blushed as he glanced at Gillian. She nodded with understanding, so he didn't need to finish the sentence.

"She was devastated… _ **we**_ …we were devastated. I told her we would try again in a few months but she seemed inconsolable."

"I'm sorry," Gillian commiserated.

Williams seemed to be distraught and as Gillian touched his arm, Cal nodded towards the upstairs. "Perhaps you should talk to the girls now, Dr. Foster…"

Assuming Cal was giving Williams a chance to grieve alone, Gillian smiled and nodded. "Sure..."

She headed upstairs while Cal looked over at Williams. "At's your bike in the garage? She's a beauty!"

Grateful for the change of subject, Williams stood. "Wanna see it?"

Cal stood and followed the man outside. He kept him distracted asking endless questions about the bike which gave Gillian enough time to spend with the daughters.

An hour later, Gillian made her way outside. Cal noticed she was pale and walked over to her immediately. "Foster…everything all right?"

Williams walked up worriedly. "Are my daughters all right? Did they say something to you?"

Cal noticed his nervousness and Gillian smiled weakly. "No…they seem to be coping with it well." She turned to Cal. "I must have eaten something earlier that didn't agree with me, can you take me home?"

Cal frowned when he clearly saw that she was lying. "Sure, Luv…"

Gillian nodded and went to sit in the car as he turned back to Williams. "Nice ride you got there, maybe I can hear you start her up next time…we'll stop by in a few days so Foster can check the kids again…"

"Yeah, have a good one Lightman."

Cal gave the guy a thumbs up then climbed into the car. He had barely made it out of the driveway when Gillian blew up angrily.

"That bastard! That man is a lying stinking bastard!"

"I know, Luv," he looked at her knowingly. "The girls obviously said something to you that confirmed my suspicions?"

"They both said a lot. How they loved their mother. How she had done nothing for the past month but take them to dance practice three nights a week. How she had volunteered to bring baked goods and healthy snacks to be kept backstage for everyone to share throughout the long recital day. How she was room mom to the youngest ones class and how she was gathering the supplies for the kids to make a craft at the upcoming Halloween party. Does that sound like a woman who is so depressed she can't get out of bed most days?!"

Cal's phone rang and he glanced down. "It's a detective friend of mine…" he told Gillian as he answered. "Yeah…" He listened for a moment. "Oh yeah…thanks…" He looked at Gillian. "Williams took out a two million dollar life insurance policy on his wife a year ago."

Gillian gasped. "What?!"

"He claims it was so if anything happened he could pay off all their debt and either stay home with the girls or pay for a nanny."

Gillian made a face. "So…this would be considered motive, correct?"

"Oh, yeah. The police are on their way right now to arrest Williams."

"What about the girls?"

"What about them?"

"What's going to happen to them?"

Cal blinked in confusion. "I have no idea…"

"Don't you think you should have asked?"

"I was hired to determine if Williams was lying…with your help I completed my job."

Gillian looked at angrily. "So those two little girls mean nothing to you?!"

Cal waffled under her anger. "I didn't say that! I guess they'll be taken into Child Protective Services until a relative can come." Gillian raised her brows and continued to stare at him and he rolled his eyes. "I'm guessing by that look, Foster, that answer isn't good enough? You want to go back and find out for yourself, don't you?"

Gillian nodded as Cal turned around and headed back.

"You hired me as a psychologist, in a way, I consider those girls patients, they've been through a lot and I'd just like to see that they're taken care of…"

Cal blew out a long breath as they drove up to the house. Williams was already in the back of a police car that was headed down the street.

Gillian flew from the car and ran inside to see the two girls sitting on the couch holding each other. They were crying and staring at a policeman who was pacing worriedly in front of them.

She quickly walked over and sat down on the coffee table in front of them. "Hi girls…"

The girls looked up and jumped into Gillian's arms as she immediately drew them close to offer comfort.

Maddie, the eldest at seven, leaned back with tears in her eyes. "We heard them tell Daddy he was being arrested because he killed Mommy…"

Angel, the five year old had put her thumb in her mouth and wouldn't let go of Gillian.

Cal walked up to the police officer who looked at Cal gratefully. "Thank God your partner's here…I had no idea how to help these kids…"

Cal nodded grimly. "What's going to happen to them?"

"Child Protective Services is on their way. They'll try to find someone in the family who can take them…"

Gillian overheard them and looked over at Maddie and smiled. "Maddie, honey, do you have a Grandma or Grandpa?"

Maddie nodded. "Grandma and Grandpa Williams are in Paris, Daddy showed us pictures of a big tower..."

Gillian frowned at the news. "What about your Mommy's mom and dad?"

"They're dead like my Mommy…"

"Oh…do you have and Aunt or Uncle?"

"Auntie Morgan is Mommy's sister."

"Do you know where your Auntie Morgan is?"

Maddie shook her head but pointed at the phone. "If we want to talk to her we can push the button on the phone by her picture."

Cal closed his eyes with relief that someone had the foresight to teach the girls what to do in an emergency. He walked over and grabbed the phone and pushed the button then tried to walk away so the girls wouldn't overhear him.

Gillian stood and lifted Angel to her hip. "Girls why don't we go upstairs and see if we can pack up some clothes for you…"

Angel clung desperately to Gillian while Maddie nodded then lead the way upstairs.

A short time later, Gillian was sitting on the bed while Maddie and Angel brought clothes to her from their dressers. She was folding them neatly and putting them in separate suitcases when Maddie finally realized what she was doing and stopped in her tracks and looked at Gillian.

"Why are we packing clothes? Are we going somewhere?"

Angel looked fearfully at Gillian.

"Um…" Gillian faltered at what to say to them.

Cal entered the room and sat down next to her as he looked at the two little girls.

"I just spoke to your Auntie Morgan. She's on her way over right now."

Gillian let out the breath she was holding and Cal caught her eye and smiled weakly at her as he turned back to face the girls. "She was so excited that you two are coming to stay with her for awhile!" he said with false excitement.

Maddie frowned as she looked around her room. "Auntie Morgan has a small apartment, where are we going to sleep?"

Cal frowned and shook his head. "I don't Luv, but I do know that your Auntie Morgan loves you very much and she will find a way to make this work out for you."

Gillian realized that despite his gruff exterior with adults, he was really great with kids. He must be an awesome father she thought as she smiled at him. A police officer came to the doorway and Gillian stood and squeezed Cal's arm. She looked at him and he quickly read her thoughts and nodded.

As she left the room, Cal reached down for a book on the floor. "Horton Hears A Whoo…at's my favorite book! Do you girls like it too?"

The two sisters nodded at Cal who smiled warmly. "Maybe I could read it to you?"

Maddie shrugged as she climbed onto the bed and settled against the pillows. To Cal's surprise, Angel climbed up on his lap, stuck her thumb in her mouth and leaned her head back against his chest.

Cal was reminded of the hours spent with Emily sitting in this very position and he smiled at the feeling of holding a small child in his lap again. He turned the first page and began to read.

It only took a few pages of hearing his soothing voice before Angel was asleep in his arms. Cal chanced a glance at Maddie and her eyes were open but he could tell by the slow way she was blinking that she was moments away from falling asleep herself. A few pages more and Maddie's eyes stayed closed, Cal read a few more pages slowly until he could see that she was in a sound sleep. He set the book down and gently lifted Angel from his lap then set her down next to Maddie and slipped the blanket over both of them.

With a last glance at them, he headed down the stairs.

Gillian was sitting on the couch speaking to the woman from Child Protective Services when Cal walked down. As he hit the bottom step, the front door opened and a young woman walked in.

She was visibly shaken as she saw them in the house and she rushed into the room. "Where are my nieces?!" she demanded.

Cal reached for her arm and squeezed it lightly. "They're upstairs, Darling, they're fine, I just read them a book and they're both sound asleep."

The woman sighed with relief then frowned as she looked at him. "Where's Frank?"

"The police have him in custody…"

"What? Why? Oh my God! What's going on…and who are you?"

"Cal Lightman."

"A cop?"

"No, but I work with the police department. I'm…basically a human lie detector; my firm helps the police in investigations."

"Investigations? Are you investigating my sister's death?"

"I was…"

Morgan was confused and she wondered if they had discovered something new about her sister's case.

Gillian stepped forward with her hand extended. "Morgan, my name's Dr. Gillian Foster."

Morgan smiled at the warmth in Gillian's face. "Nice to meet you…how are you involved?"

Gillian blinked as Cal answered immediately. "She's my partner…"

Gillian looked at him and frowned at his lie then shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Morgan, I'm a psychologist, Dr. Lightman asked me to come here today to speak with Maddie and Angel."

"Why? Are they having problems?"

"They seem to be doing all right."

Cal stepped forward. "I'm able to read people based on basic human gestures or facial expressions that everyone displays when they're lying…"

Morgan frowned as she shook her head with confusion. "And you saw these things in Maddie and Angel?"

"No…but I did seem them in Williams…"

"Frank was lying to you? About what?"

Cal tilted his head and was about to speak, Gillian wanted to soften the blow of the news so she brushed against him and took Morgan's hand.

"We believe your brother-in-law played a part in your sister's death…"

"Oh, God!" Morgan swallowed hard and turned to sit on the couch then buried her face in her hands.

Gillian sat down next to her and put her arm around the woman's shoulders. "I'm sorry…"

"Why? I mean…what did he get out of it?"

"A year ago, he took out a two million dollar life insurance policy..." Cal answered.

"Marisa never mentioned it…" Morgan's face contorted in disgust as a thought popped into her head. "Probably because she didn't know…that bastard!"

Cal nodded his head in commiseration. "He's also a bleeding idiot…insurance policies don't pay when a person commits suicide."

"So he killed my sister and made it look like suicide then never got the money he expected?"

"Looks that way, Luv…"

"I hope he rots in jail for a long long time…"

The woman from Child Protective Services came forward. "My name is Shirley Gray, ma'am, I understand that you're the Aunt but in the next few days I'll need you to provide me with proof of that as well as some financial records showing that you're capable of taking care of your nieces."

Morgan's eyes grew round with shock. "What? Are you telling me that there's a chance I can lose my nieces?"

"I understand that they have grandparents as well…they may be in a better position financially to take in your nieces. It's not up to me; a judge will take a look at all the information and determine who the girls are best suited to live with."

Morgan shook her head. "Frank's parents are in their mid 70's. They're basically pretty healthy but I'm not sure they could take on the care of a five and seven year old."

"Are you married?"

"No, I'm not, but I am a registered nurse and other than student loans I don't have a lot of debt…"

Gillian leaned forward in her seat. "Morgan, I could be wrong but I believe if it's proven that Frank had a part in your sister's death the insurance company will have to pay out the policy…"

Morgan gasped in surprise. "The girls would get that money?"

"Possibly…" Gillian nodded.

"It would go a long way towards financially helping whoever gets them…" Cal added.

Morgan shook her head no. "That money would belong to the girls, they can use it to when they're of age to get into college and…wow…"

Mrs. Gray stood and handed Morgan her business card. "I can see that you are quite capable of taking care of the girls until the judge can make her final ruling. Off the record, I would speak to an attorney about representing you, with that much money involved this may become a problem…"

Morgan frowned at the implications as Mrs. Gray walked out. "A lawyer…they're going to want a retainer…"

Cal's phone rang and he looked down to see it was Zoe. He went outside to speak to her. When he came back inside, Gillian and Morgan were going through the mail and Frank's checkbook to see if there was any available money to help the children.

Cal came back and sat in a chair opposite them. "At was my wife, she agreed to file whatever paperwork you need, you'll need to pay some filing fees but she'll waive her attorney's fees."

Morgan looked relieved. "That's so kind…thank you, so much!"

"She also suggested that you and she arrange a time to speak to Frank. She felt that under the circumstances, Frank might be willing to admit fault in order to speed up the payment from the insurance company."

Morgan nodded. "He was a horseshit husband but he does love his little girls…"

Gillian turned around as Maddie made her way down the steps.

"Auntie Morgan!" she cried out excitedly as she ran into her Aunt's arms.

"Hi, sweetie! Dr. Lightman said you girls just fell asleep, you didn't have a very long nap…"

"I'm seven Auntie Morgan, I don't take naps!"

"Oh!" Morgan said as she tried to hide her smile. "I forgot, I'll remember from now on."

Gillian leaned forward to brush the hair from Maddie's eyes. "Maddie helped Angel and I pack some outfits in their small suitcases. I left them upstairs…"

Morgan nodded as Maddie looked at her. "Auntie Morgan if Daddy's not coming home why do we have to live in your apartment? Why can't we stay here?"

Morgan frowned when she thought about the young girl's logical conclusion. "Well…I…didn't think about it…I don't know…I can check into it…"

Gillian smiled weakly. "I'm sure it will be all right for the next month or two. Once the legalities are taken care of you'll have a better idea how to go forward."

Morgan nodded at the logic. "Yeah." She turned to face Maddie. "As soon as Angel wakes up we'll head to my apartment and I'll get some clothes and some more of my stuff and we'll come back here."

"Can I have a cookie?"

Morgan laughed. "Mother may I?"

Maddie giggled as they played the childhood game of Mother May I. "Mother may I have a cookie?"

"Yes, you may…"

Maddie smiled and headed into the kitchen to grab a snack.

Cal stood and glanced at Gillian who took his lead. Morgan stood as well and extended her hand to Cal. "I can't thank you enough!"

"It's all right, darling, I'm glad I could help."

Morgan chuckled derisively. "I didn't even know we needed help…I mean, Frank had us all convinced it was suicide. It never sat well with me…I mean it made no sense but I never knew the police suspected otherwise."

Cal frowned as he looked away. "Suicide is nothing to be taken lightly…and when there are little kids involved it's even more troublesome…"

Morgan looked at Gillian and smiled warmly when Gillian offered her a hug. "Take care and if you need any help with the girl's call me...no charge…"

Gillian handed her a card as Morgan smiled. "I will…thank you."

Cal rested a hand on Gillian's lower back and led her towards the door. When they were seated in the car, Gillian looked over at Cal. "I can't tell you the last time I felt like my work made such a difference in someone's life!"

Cal nodded. "You saved the lives of those little girls, Darling!"

Gillian tried to shrug off his compliment. "Saved their lives? That's a little far fetched…"

"Foster…" Cal stared at her pointedly. "Those little girls were going to grow up thinking their mum didn't love them enough to stick around…you helped discover the truth, now they won't have that hovering over their heads."

Gillian fiddled with her hands. "No…instead they have to grow up with the fact that their father killed their mother for money…neither situation is ideal…"

Cal looked out the window as he sighed and blew out a long breath. "Once they're adults they'll be able to reason out why their dad did something so stupid…but a mum killing herself?"

The car grew quiet as he drove back towards his house. Gillian replayed his words and was struck by a thought. She turned to look at him. "Cal, do you know someone who committed suicide?"

Cal started to speak but changed his mind then took a deep breath. "Let's just drop it, shall we?"

Gillian heard the pain in his voice and frowned as she looked out her window.

They didn't speak until he pulled up alongside her car.

"Thanks for your help today, Foster. Send me a bill, all right?"

Gillian watched in disbelief as he drove away from her. She shook her head at his abrupt departure then climbed into her car. She drove home and thought about the case.

Pulling up to her house, she parked behind her husband's car then cleared her mind. She painted on a smile then made her way inside.

A few weeks later, Cal walked into her office again unannounced.

"Dr. Lightman," she greeted carefully.

"Foster…" Cal said as he waved a check in front of her face.

"What's this for?" Gillian wondered.

"Payment for services rendered…" at her look of confusion, Cal rolled his eyes. "At's half the fee my firm was paid for the Williams case."

Gillian glanced at the check and gasped. "I can't accept this!"

"Why the bloody hell not…you certainly earned it!"

"And this is for half?!"

Cal frowned at her lack of trust. "I can probably dig up the bill if you need me to prove it to you…"

"No…" Gillian gasped. "I…I just had no concept of how much your information was worth…"

"Truth has its own price tag…it's costly to some but priceless to others."

Gillian thought about Frank Williams and how much the truth had cost him then she thought about Morgan and how much the truth gave her in order to raise her nieces properly and she understood Cal's analogy perfectly.

"Well, thank you, it's totally unexpected and you didn't have to do this…"

"You're my partner!" Cal said dismissively as he smiled. "It seemed only fair."

Gillian chuckled as he turned to leave then looked at him curiously when he turned back to face her. "Would it be all right if I call you next time I run into a spot of trouble?"

Gillian shrugged as she smiled. "Sure, if I can help you out I have no problem with moonlighting a little bit…"

Cal nodded then whipped around. "See ya later, Foster!"


	6. Chapter 6

_**CHAPTER 6**_

Over the course of the few months, Dr. Lightman called on Dr. Foster's expertise several times.

They worked well together and were able to complete each case they worked on successfully. Cal was mindful of keeping their cases separate from his own and Gillian slowly started to handle the contracts and money collections of the cases they worked on together.

Gillian worked with Cal in her free time from the Pentagon but the extra money coming in was so helpful towards paying off their student loans, Alec never expressed any concerns.

Zoe, however, had the opposite opinion of Alec and expressed it loudly the day she found out Cal had been paying Gillian half of his fees.

"Cal, what are all these checks made out to Gillian Foster?" Zoe asked angrily as she waved the checkbook in front of him.

Cal paused the video he was watching and frowned as he looked over at his wife. "What?"

"You wrote about twelve checks to Gillian Foster over the last four months…"

"At's right…"

"For what?" Zoe's eyes flashed annoyance.

Cal realized she was spoiling for a fight and sighed as he reached up to turn off the video he was watching. "I'm working here, Zoe, do we have to do this now?!"

"The goddamned mortgage payment just bounced so yeah, we have to do this now!"

Emily walked into the kitchen. "Are you guys fighting again?"

Zoe rolled her eyes and looked out the window while Cal looked at Emily. "No, Darling, we were just 'aving a loud discussion about some bills…"

"Oh…well, sorry to interrupt but I just wanted to get something to eat." Emily said as she reached into the cookie jar and grabbed a handful of cookies, then went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

Zoe turned around to see if Emily had gotten whatever it was that she wanted. "Can you run upstairs Em, so Dad and I can finish?"

Emily looked at Cal for confirmation and he shrugged indifferently. "Go ahead, Luv….I'll start dinner in about an hour…"

Emily shot her mother a look before she ran upstairs.

"What was that look for?" Zoe spat angrily.

"She's probably feeling sorry for me 'cause you're so bleeding angry."

"Yeah, maybe because you gave Foster about twenty five thousand dollars in the last four months!"

Cal stood up to face his wife. "Zoe, we talked about this…I told you I was paying her every time she helped me solve a case."

"How much?"

"Half. If I ask her to help me out, I pay her half of whatever the case brought in…"

"Half? When did her name get put on the letterhead?"

Cal sighed. "It didn't and you know that…"

"So why does she get half for a consulting fee? It's your science and your name recognition that brings these cases to you…not hers!"

Cal stepped forward and pushed his face close to Zoe's. "Yeah and it's _her_ science that solves the cases that I'm stuck on. _Her_ insight into the human mind that gives me what I need to come to the right conclusion!"

"Why didn't you ever ask for my help?"

"I'm sorry…I didn't realize that in addition to your law degree that you had gotten a PHD in psychology as well…" Cal spat sarcastically.

"Cut the sarcasm, Cal, you know what I mean."

"No, I don't! Look, I can tell what people are thinking or feeling but I can't tell you why, sometimes I need that insight so I can put all of those puzzle pieces together…"

Zoe frowned when he admitted he needed help and she sighed. "I guess I was just pissed when I found out the mortgage bounced."

"I'll work on collecting some of the money I have coming from past cases, Luv. Give me a few days and I'll have the money in the account."

Zoe frowned as she looked down and Cal cocked his head and looked at her quizzically. "Is there more?"

"I guess I was a little…" She stopped and rolled her eyes as she walked away.

"What?" Cal grinned when he read her face. "What were you a little of…" Zoe shot him a look and Cal waggled his eyebrows. "You were jealous?!"

"Maybe…"

"Of Foster?"

"She's a beautiful woman…"

Cal shrugged indifferently. "I guess…I can't say as I noticed…"

"Awww come on, Cal! You'd have to be dead not to notice!"

"Well, first off, I'm married to you and you know…kind of already happy in that department…" Zoe smiled knowingly. She and Cal had a great sex life and she knew his needs were satisfied. "And Foster is practically a newlywed."

"She is?"

"Yeah, like three years or something like that…still all lovey dovey…"

Zoe shook her head in disbelief. "So she'll be looking to start a family soon, what will you do then? Kind of hard to work nights and weekends with a baby…"

"Cross that bridge when it happens, darling…" Cal shrugged as he walked closer to her and grabbed her by the hips. "Now…let's go back to this whole jealousy thing…"

Zoe gasped as he pulled her against his hardened body. She kissed him as he pulled her into the pantry and stripped her shirt over her head. Zoe leaned back against the door while Cal kissed his way down the length of her. Within minutes, he was inside of her and pushing them towards the finish. They went over the edge together and as they came down from their high, Emily walked into the room.

"Mom, Dad…"

Zoe was embarrassed and knew Cal would call out so she shoved a hand over his mouth to prevent him. She flashed him a warning signal as he pulled his pants up and straightened his clothes. Zoe pulled her shirt over her head and pulled her skirt from around her waist back down to where it belonged.

Cal smiled wickedly as he twirled her underwear on his finger. Zoe snatched them from his hand then slipped them into her pocket.

She peeked out of the pantry door and Emily was in the living room, she walked back in as Cal walked out of the pantry.

"Where were you guys?"

"Pantry!" Zoe panicked. "Dad was helping me get something down from one of the upper shelves…"

Emily's brows rose in surprise as she looked at her father who was a good four inches shorter than her mother when she was in her heels.

Cal rolled his eyes at her blatant lie. "Well, that's believable!" he looked back at Emily. "I was helping Mum open the jars of spaghetti sauce for dinner."

Emily suspected something else and she made a face of disgust as she walked away. "Nice try…I know you guys were like making out or something…ewww…"

Four months went by and Cal started calling on Gillian more and more for help.

Another case came up that he needed help on but Zoe had planned a family weekend at her parent's house and Cal refused to go and another fight was brewing.

"I can't, Zoe…Foster and I need to work this weekend on that Stevenson case."

"For Christ's sake Cal, it's the weekend!"

"I know, it's not my fault Foster's only available at certain times!"

"Why don't you just make her an offer to work in your firm then we can go back to having our nights and weekends free!"

Cal's face showed his shock at the suggestion. "You can't be serious?!"

"Why not, Emily isn't getting any younger and we won't have too much longer to do things as a family!"

"Yeah, but Zoe, you know I'll be spending a lot more time with Foster…Luv, if you're even remotely worried about…"

Zoe rolled her eyes as she walked away. "I've seen the way Foster looks at her husband…you don't stand a chance…besides, if you're home at night, I'll be able to tire you out so you won't be able to think about that with someone else…"

"Oh, yeah?!" Cal grinned wickedly. "I like the sound of that!"

Zoe sighed as she kissed him. "I'm taking Em to my parent's house. Ask Foster this weekend and maybe when we go to see them next month you'll be able to go with us this time."

Cal nodded as Emily came into the room. "Have fun at your grandparent's house."

"I will, Dad, I wish you were going!"

"Me too, Luv, maybe next time."

Later that day, after they worked on the case, Cal dropped Gillian off at her house.

"Bye, Cal."

"Foster, wait!" Cal reached out and grabbed her arm.

"What?"

"I wanted to ask you to consider something…"

They sat quietly for what seemed like forever and Gillian finally looked over at him. She could see he was struggling so she prompted him. "Was that something you wanted to ask me tonight or…."

Cal took a deep breath and plowed ahead. "I want to know if you'd be my partner in my firm…"

"What?!"

"My partner."

"Partner?"

"Yeah, you know…it's an arrangement between two people for the purpose of conducting business…"

Gillian rolled her eyes at his condescending tone. "I know what a partnership is, Cal."

"So would you consider it?"

Gillian frowned as she shook her head. "I don't know…I mean…I already have a job…"

Cal held up his hand to stop her refusal. " _A job_ …you work for someone else…I'm offering you a chance to work for yourself."

"No…you're offering me a chance to work for you…"

"Not at all…we'll be equal partners…I'll sign anything you want."

"Cal, look…I know I bring _something_ to the table when I work on the cases you bring me and I'm comfortable doing that. But our partnership would be kind lopsided…I'm not sure I could contribute as much as you do, I don't have your knowledge. "

"I'll teach you!"

Gillian frowned as she debated with herself. "I don't know…"

Cal reached out a hand to still her thoughts. "Just think about it, maybe get Alec's opinion."

Gillian smiled weakly as she nodded, "Okay, I'll promise to think about it…"

The next week, Gillian felt herself stretched thin. She was on the go early in the morning, cleaning the apartment, catching up on laundry and grocery shopping. Later that night, she fell asleep on the couch while watching a movie with Alec.

Alec caressed her cheek. "Gill, honey, let's go to bed."

"Hmmm…" Gillian said as she stretched and sat up. "Oh, Alec, I'm so sorry I wanted to spend time with you watching…" She flipped over the dvd cover and scowled. "… _ **Ninja Death Squad 2.**_ "

Alec laughed aloud. "You fell asleep during the first one too…" Gillian grinned ruefully as he smiled. "Honey, you're wearing yourself out working these two jobs. I mean, don't get me wrong I love the fact that our student loans are almost paid off and we're caught up on our bills but not the fact that you're exhausted. Maybe you need to cut back on one of the jobs…"

Gillian nodded as she turned to face him. "It's funny you're saying this now…Dr. Lightman offered me a job as his business partner…"

"Partner?"

"Yeah, he said we'd be equal partners in every aspect of the business…"

"It's his science, honey, why would he do that?"

"He's going to teach me his science as the cases come up…"

"Do you think you can trust him?"

"Cal? Sure…why?"

"I just don't want to see him take advantage of you."

"I won't let him…"

Alec shrugged as he looked at her. "Okay look, you have some vacation time on the books and you know it's impossible for me to get away right now and I probably won't be able to get away anytime soon. Why don't you combine your vacation and sick time and work with Lightman for a few weeks. Kind of get a feel for it…if it doesn't work out, we're in no worse shape than before…"

Gillian leaned back in her seat and thought about what he had said. "Alec, that's actually a really good idea. I think maybe I'll give it a try. I don't want to lose my job at the Pentagon before I get a chance to see what it would be really like to work with Cal."

Alec kissed her cheek as he walked by. "I know you'll make the right decision for us and no matter which one you pick I'll support you."

Gillian leaned in and gave him a very passionate kiss. "Do you have any idea how sexy a secure man is?"

Alec grinned and grabbed her hand and led her to the bedroom where they made love until the early morning hours.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7**_

Gillian set her alarm and got ready for work. She grabbed her cell phone to call Cal and grimaced at the time but she figured that Emily would be getting ready for school and they would probably all be awake.

"Yeah."

"Cal?"

"Foster, what's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you about my decision."

Cal's face fell. "That was quick, so Alec said no then…"

Gillian frowned at the sound of defeat in his voice. "Um…no…he didn't."

"Oh, so it's you that doesn't want to take a chance…"

Gillian shook her head and started to giggle that he sounded so forlorn. "Cal, who said the decision was no?"

In shock, Cal choked on the coffee he was drinking. "So it's a yes?" he asked excitedly.

"It's a maybe…"

"What?"

"I'm combining my vacation days and sick days and taking a few weeks off of work. I'll come work with you and we'll see how things go then I'll make my decision after that…"

"At's fair."

"I think it'll be a good test to see if this is what we both want."

"Oh, I already know, I want you Foster, in every possible way!" Zoe walked into the room and she stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes flashed angrily. "Wait!" Cal said immediately as he held up his hand to his wife. "I think that came out wrong! You know I love my beautiful wife, right. I meant that I want you professionally speaking…Foster?"

"I know what you meant, Cal." Gillian was laughing out loud at his slip up. She knew he had blurted it out innocently and she was guessing that Zoe had walked into the room at that exact moment. "I'll request my vacation time as soon as I get to work, hopefully, I can start working for you on Monday."

"With me…working with me…"

"Whatever, bye Cal."

Gillian went to work and gave notice that she was taking her two week vacation starting the following week. She passed her important cases onto the next doctor and then said goodbye to some of her other patients.

The following week, she drove herself over to Cal's house early Monday morning. She blinked in surprise when Cal answered the door in an apron.

"Foster!"

Gillian hesitated briefly. "Um…you told me to be here at 8:00."

Cal raised his eyebrows then frowned. "Oh, yeah, I guess I did…"

He turned and walked back inside and left her standing alone on the front porch.

Gillian blinked in confusion as she debated whether she should follow him.

"Hi, Gillian!" Emily greeted as she hopped down the steps. "Come on in!"

"Hi Emily, thank you." Gillian smiled as she shut the door and walked into the kitchen behind her.

She set her briefcase down in the corner then stood uncertainly in the center of the room.

Emily poured herself some orange juice as she looked at her dad expectantly then back at Gillian. Gillian saw her roll her eyes as she grabbed a coffee mug from a cabinet and filled it with coffee then walked it over to hand to Gillian.

Cal frowned as he looked up and realized he hadn't offered Gillian anything. "Thanks, Em, Foster needs cream and sugar…lots of it…"

Gillian was surprised he remembered how she liked her coffee and even more surprised at his culinary skills as she watched him expertly flip over omelets in three separate pans. Emily had brought over the cream and sugar and set it down in front of Gillian before she buttered the toast from the toaster and set it on the plates Cal had laid out. Cal slid omelets from each of the pans onto the plates as Zoe walked into the room.

"Just in time," Cal smiled as he handed her a plate.

Zoe made a face. "No time, sorry," she grabbed a coffee mug and turned to the coffee pot only to find it empty. "You drank all the coffee?"

Cal frowned then looked at Gillian as he realized Zoe's portion had been given to her. "Oh, yeah, sorry, I'll make some more."

Zoe waved her hand indifferently. "Don't bother, I'll buy some." She leaned over and kissed Emily's cheek. "Bye Baby, I'll see you later, have a good day!"

Zoe started to walk out the kitchen door when she noticed Gillian. "Oh, sorry, Gillian, good to see you," she smiled distractedly.

"Good to see you too," Gillian said to her back as she closed the door. 

Cal looked at his wife's plate and sighed as he set in down. "At's a good breakfast gone to waste!"

Emily felt bad that Cal had gone through all that effort to make a great breakfast. "Mom doesn't know what she's missing Dad this is awesome!"

He actually looked disappointed and Gillian looked at him sympathetically. "Um…if it's going to go to waste anyway, I'll eat it."

Cal brightened as he looked at her in surprise. "Here, then, enjoy."

Gillian took a few bites and smiled. "Cal, this is really good!"

"Dad's an awesome cook!"

Cal blushed and shrugged his shoulders then raced to his wife's defense. "Your mom's a good cook too!"

Emily laughed aloud. "Yeah, she can toast a mean pop tart!"

Gillian hid a smile as Cal frowned at Emily. "Yeah, well, she doesn't have time to cook much more than that does she?"

Gillian felt the reprimand and watched Emily lower her eyes guiltily. "I guess not…"

Emily took her last few bites then shot to her feet. "I gotta go…" she announced as she kissed Cal.

"Bye, Luv…have a good day!"

"Bye, Dad, bye, Gillian."

"Bye, Emily," Gillian said as she watched the girl race out the door with her book bag.

Cal stood as well. "I just need to take a minute to cleanup this mess then I can be right with you." He nodded to a door that Gillian knew led to an office. "There's a blue file on my desk, you can start on it if you want…"

Gillian nodded as she helped clean off the table and brought him all the dishes and utensils. Then grabbed her coffee mug and headed into the office.

She gasped in surprise when she tried to open the door but it only moved enough for her to squeeze through. She turned on the light and blinked when she saw box after box stacked with papers falling haphazardly out of their covers. There were also stacks of papers all over the floor and on every available space.

"Um…Cal…do Zoe and Emily store there stuff in here as well?"

"What? Oh…um…no that's all my stuff."

"Your stuff?" she muttered.

"At's right…I'm a little behind on filing."

Gillian walked into the room and slowly started to read scattered papers from off the tops of boxes. She bent over and picked up several receipts off of the floor as she made her way to the desk.

Overwhelmed, she walked back out into the kitchen.

Cal glanced at her in surprise. "Couldn't find the folder?"

"Folder? I couldn't find the desk!"

He grimaced with embarrassment. "Yeah, well, I'll work on that this morning…"

Gillian nodded her head then looked at him curiously. "We never talked about salary…I mean I know how much you've given to me but I…"

She hesitated because she realized she had no idea how much money the business actually made.

Not one for beating around the bush, Cal looked at her pointedly as he filled the dishwasher. "Whatever is troubling you, Foster, just ask…"

Gillian straightened her shoulders. "Exactly how much money does The Lightman Group have?"

Cal shrugged as he stacked the last of the dishes inside then closed the door and started the machine. He turned and looked at her with confusion. "I have no idea!"

Gillian blinked in surprise. She took a deep breath then started to think about the fact that his business was less than a year old and that maybe he just didn't crunch any numbers yet. "Okay…well, then how much do you take out of it personally?"

Cal threw his hands in the air. "I don't know! I have a credit card, I charge whatever I need and Zoe takes the rest."

Gillian's jaw dropped open in shock and she tried to hide her disappointment as she shook her head slowly. "Um…I'm not sure if this is a good idea…"

"What?"

"My working for you…"

" _With_ you…working _**with**_ me not for me!"

"Cal, look…I took my two week vacation to work with you and get a feel if I would fit into this business but I'm not even sure if you have a business here!"

"Foster, I have more work then I can possibly finish right now, I'm out all day trying to solve cases then I try to do my books when I get home."

Gillian pointed at his office. "Well, your office looks like a war zone so something else is taking you away from doing that!"

Cal grimaced as he nodded. "Yeah, I usually get home a little before Em and then I have homework to deal with and dinner to make…"

Gillian softened at the mention of Emily. She knew his daughter would always come first and by rights, she should always come first.

Cal had been watching her and he reached out to her and touched her arm. "I promise you Foster, come work with me and I will do better!"

Gillian sighed and smiled weakly at him. "Make some more coffee…its going to be a long day."

Cal squeezed her arm gratefully. "Thanks, Luv! You won't regret this!"

"I better not," Gillian sighed as she turned to walk back to the office.

She walked across the room and flung open the drapes to flood the room with light. When she turned around, she heard Cal gasp.

"Bloody hell!" Cal said as he walked into the room and for the first time actually looked at the mess he made.

Gillian nodded her head. "You're finally seeing what I see?"

Cal frowned and blushed with embarrassment. "Well, it looked better with the drapes closed."

Gillian started to look into boxes. "How long has it been like this?"

"Since the start," Cal admitted sheepishly.

"Do you have any system in place?" She looked at him and already knew the

answer. "All right…we can't do this in here. Let's start hauling it all to the kitchen and use the table there."

Gillian glanced down and looked at her white blouse and knew it was going to be ruined by the light covering of dust and dirt that covered everything.

"Don't move!" Cal said as he raced from the room. He ran to the laundry room and grabbed two shirts off of hangers then went back to hold them up in front of Gillian. "You can change into one of these…"

Gillian reached for what was obviously the woman's shirt then realized it was probably Zoe's. She thought about how she would feel if Alec lent her clothing out to another woman and she frowned as she reached for the black t shirt.

"Yours?"

"Yeah…" Cal grinned but it quickly faded as he looked at her worriedly. "It's clean."

Gillian looked puzzled by his comment. "I wasn't worried…unless you have cooties…" she said nonchalantly as she headed to the small bathroom off the kitchen to change.

"Nope, no cooties." Cal said as he grinned at her back.

He quickly carried in a few stacks of boxes then glanced up as Gillian came in with her blouse in her hands. Wordlessly, he went to the laundry room and brought her back a hangar. Surprised by his thoughtfulness, Gillian took it and hung her blouse in the doorway to the laundry room.

She frowned as she looked at the stacks of laundry piled up. "Cal, as long as we're going to be here all day, you should start a load of laundry."

Cal was walking in with more boxes and nodded. "At's a good idea, multi tasking…see I knew I needed you!"

He quickly loaded up the washer and started it then he and Gillian started to walk more boxes into the kitchen.

When the walkway was filled, Gillian held her hand up. "We'd better start on this or we won't get it done in time for your family's dinner."

They sat down and each opened up a box.

Cal looked at her puzzled. "What are we doing?"

Gillian was leafing through pages and sighed. "I have no idea…I have what I think are papers that belong in case files here as well as personal purchases and then bills…and sales flyers from stores…" Gillian turned it over and looked at the date. "From six months ago…and here's some expired coupons…"

Cal blew out a long breath as he watched Gillian square her shoulders. "Okay, I need paper, marker and tape." Cal walked over to a drawer in the kitchen while she walked around and emptied the contents of four boxes neatly onto the table.

Cal watched as she labeled the four boxes personal, business, client and receipts. Gillian pointed at a stack. "Start separating."

Cal grabbed the first few papers then set them down as he ran out into the garage to get a big box on which he wrote recycling. He set it down behind them.

The new colleagues, worked silently as they each put things in their correct box.

Gillian could figure out most of the papers but when it came to what she thought were items for the case files, she had to hand them to Cal for verification.

"Case?" she'd ask.

"Yep," Cal replied.

Eventually she stopped asking him and he would take it from her and file it into the proper box.

The recycling box was filled in no time at all and Cal walked it into the garage and brought in another one.

Four hours later, they had gone through all of the boxes in the kitchen as well as about twenty more boxes from the office. The back wall in the kitchen was now hidden by the separated boxes they had filled. The charge receipts and the client files were stacked three boxes high, the business files and personal files were each in two boxes and each category had a new box sitting on the table waiting to be filled.

It was noon when Gillian walked into the office again. "Wow!" she said at the almost emptied room.

"Yeah," Cal grinned. "It's starting to look like an office."

"We just need to get a few file cabinets in here." Gillian grinned.

Cal grinned and walked over to the closet door.. "Ask and you shall receive, Luv!" He opened it and waved his hand for her to look inside.

Gillian took a step and smiled at two tall boxes that contained brand new file cabinets. She turned and chuckled at him. "You should have opened these up sooner; it may have saved you some grief."

Cal rolled his eyes. "Maybe…"

"Why don't we sit and go through the client boxes first and get everything separated into individual file folders…"

"Um…Foster…I bought the cabinets but I didn't buy the folders…" Cal admitted sheepishly.

Gillian realized it was exactly something he would do and she laughed out loud. "Why am I not surprised?" Cal blushed as she reached out and touched his arm. "I'm going to the office supply store to pick us up what we need. You keep cleaning…"

Gillian walked out and grabbed her purse and keys. At the store, she quickly filled a cart with office supplies then frowned when she thought about asking Cal for money. She rolled her eyes and put it on her personal charge and filed the receipt into a special pocket in her purse. After she loaded the purchases in her car, she climbed in the driver's seat and felt her stomach rumble. She quickly assessed the drive-thru options around her then called Cal.

"Lightman."

"Cal, I'm hungry, I thought about picking something up, do you want me to get something for you too."

"Foster?"

"Are you working with someone else today that would be calling to buy you lunch?"

"I can fix us something here," Cal offered.

"What have you got?" Gillian wondered.

Cal walked over to the fridge and opened it then frowned as he let it shut. He walked over to the pantry and grimaced. "Beans and toast?"

"What?"

"Beans and toast…"

"Um, I'm going to pick up Italian beef sandwiches do you want chips or fries?"

"Chips."

"Okay, I'll be back in twenty minutes."

Cal hung up and walked to get plates and silverware as well as napkins. He set them on the counter then went back to separating client files. Twenty five minutes later, he heard Gillian pull into the driveway and he went out to help her carry everything in.

He set the office supply items by the table while Gillian opened up the carryout containers and began to move the sandwiches onto the plates. "I should have gotten chips too, I hate when the fries have the skins on them…" she groaned.

Cal picked up a French fry and popped it into his mouth. "At's the only way I like them…you take the chips, I'll take your fries."

Gillian smiled. "Thanks."

She piled the fries on his plate and the chips onto hers. She opened the beef sandwich and started to peel off the peppers and throw them back into the carryout container.

"You're taking off the best part!" Cal gasped.

Gillian wrinkled her nose. "It makes it too spicy then!"

"I like it when it's hot!" Cal grinned and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. He realized quickly what he had done and looked at her apologetically. "Sorry."

"I like it hot too but not when it comes to my food." Gillian grinned as she looked away and blushed.

Cal looked into a drink container and frowned. "What's this?"

"Iced tea, I thought you were drinking a bottle of it when you came into my office that last time.

Cal thought back and grinned. "Yeah, I did. Thanks. What are you drinking?" he asked as he tried to distinguish what was in the next drink.

"Chocolate shake…"

Cal looked surprised. "Really…"

Gillian rolled her eyes. "What…I like chocolate shakes…"

"Whatever, Foster," Cal grinned as he slipped into a chair at the island.

Gillian sat next to him and they talked amicably through their lunch. Cal finished first and started to clean up the containers while Gillian walked over and opened the file folders.

Cal finished and scooted is chair close to her. "I started separating them alphabetically by case; I was on the O's when you pulled up."

"Great!" Gillian complimented. "Why don't I get them labeled and start putting them in files while you finish P through Z."

Within an hour, they were done with the client files. Each client was now clearly labeled and the papers that corresponded to their case were filed with them."

Gillian motioned for Cal to follow her. "Come on, let's set up the office."

Cal followed her to the room and they looked around at the space.

"We need to clean in here…" Gillian suggested.

"Yeah," Cal admitted. He walked out to get the cleaning supplies and then carried everything back with him.

Gillian looked up at the dusty ceiling fan. "Top to bottom!"

Cal looked up and grinned. "Why don't we just turn it on and no one will notice?" He grinned at the look she gave him. "Right then, top to bottom!"

He left and came back with a ladder then started to clean the blades on the fan. Gillian washed the windows then started on the wood shelves lined up against the far wall. It no time at all, Cal had finished and then made his way around the room as well until everything was dusted and ready for use.

Gillian stood in the doorway. "Vacuum?"

Cal nodded and quickly brought her the machine. Gillian thoroughly vacuumed room and then stood back to look at their handiwork.

"Okay," She glanced at her watch and wrinkled her nose at the time. "It's almost 3:00. What time does Emily get home?"

"4:30."

Gillian nodded and looked at the wall behind her. "What if we put the file cabinets over here?"

"They would take up less space in the closet."

"I thought we could put shelves in the closet and organize all your cameras and video equipment."

Cal grinned. "At's a better idea. I'm always worried something is gonna get broke, lying on the floor."

The two worked well and quickly unpacked the file cabinets then set them up against the wall Gillian had picked. Cal walked all the cardboard out to recycling as Gillian started to put the client files into a drawer.

"What now?" Cal wondered.

"Why don't you move your personal files over behind your desk under the window then you can go though them whenever you get a chance."

Cal did that as Gillian sat and opened the first credit card box of receipts. She glanced at the first receipt when she saw that a purchase had been made at a popular discount store. The receipt was for bananas, peaches, lettuce, cereal and deodorant and at the bottom of the list was a video camera. The next receipt was for Victoria's Secret. Gillian set them down then quickly grabbed three empty boxes and labeled them personal, business and mixed.

"What are we doing now?" Cal said as he read the boxes then wrinkled his nose. "Never mind…wait…what's mixed for?"

Gillian raised her eyebrows as she handed him the first receipt. Cal glanced at it then frowned. He made a face as he rolled his eyes and blushed. "Yeah, I was in a hurry that day."

Gillian swiped it from his hand and dumped it into the mixed box. Cal sat down next to her and started to shift through receipts as well. They were on their second box when Emily walked in.

"Hi!"

Cal got up and kissed her cheek. "Hi, Darling, how was school?"

"Boring."

"Hi, Gillian, I didn't expect to see you here!"

"Hi, Emily."

Cal looked at his daughter curiously. "I told you Dr. Foster was going to be working with me, where did you think she'd be?"

Emily grinned. "Long gone by now! It's been like eight hours since I left, and she's still here?! That's the longest anyone's ever been around you isn't it?"

"Hey!" Cal asked as he pretended to be offended.

Gillian giggled as Emily grabbed and apple and made her way into the office. She gasped as she took a bite. "Oh my God, I can't believe you got all of this done in one day!"

Gillian smiled warmly. "You can do anything once you set your mind to it!"

"Yeah, well Mom and Dad have been saying they were going to get this done for almost a year!"

Cal rushed to his wife's defense. "Well, it really isn't your mum's mess is it?"

"It's not Gillian's either!" Emily countered. She had been watching Gillian as she separated the receipts. She grabbed one and showed it to Cal. "So, you went to The Accessory Hut and purchased earrings for one of your clients?" she asked innocently but her voice dripped with sarcasm.

Gillian hid her grin as she looked down and continued to sort through receipts.

Cal rolled his eyes and turned away. "Should I start dinner?"

"Nope, I'm good with the apple. Can I help?" she asked Gillian first then glanced at Cal.

Gillian looked at Cal for permission and he waved his hand dismissively as he opened the fridge and brought over three water bottles.

Gillian smiled at Emily. "Wouldn't you rather be watching tv or listening to the radio then sitting with a bunch of old people."

Emily looked at Cal then innocently back at Gillian. " _You're_ not old…" she said as she implied that Cal was. "Besides, if you have any hopes of finishing this by the time Mom gets home, you're going to need help."

"Well, thanks for offering; if you help, your dad can start on the business files…" Gillian said as she looked at Cal for confirmation.

He nodded and took his first box over to the counter top and started to separate the bills from the correspondence.

Meanwhile, Gillian and Emily made quick work of the last remaining charge receipts.

"Done!" Emily said proudly.

"Yeah, thanks to you!" Gillian praised.

"Where should we put these boxes?" Emily wondered.

"Can you take the ones that say personal and put them by the window behind my desk?" Cal asked.

"Sure," Emily said as jumped up to do as he asked.

Gillian carried in the business receipts and stacked them next to the file cabinet then put the mixed receipts on top of them.

Cal sorted through the last box and he, Gillian and Emily each carried one of those boxes and stacked them on the other side of the file cabinets.

Gillian took a deep breath and glanced at her watch. "Well, that was a full day of work."

Cal glanced at the clock on the wall and knew Zoe would be home within half an hour. "Fancy staying for dinner, it's just spaghetti…"

Gillian shook her head. "No, thanks, I should get home and get something started for Alec and I."

Cal started a pot of water to boil then walked her to the door. "Are you coming back tomorrow?" he asked nervously.

Gillian giggled at his worried tone. "Why do you have a basement to clean out…the attic maybe?!"

"No!" Cal looked horrified. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't get this done before you started, I swear I honestly had no idea it was this bad…"

"Cal, I'm kidding. All new businesses have growing pains, it was kind of what I expected, I don't see why we can't have everything on track by the end of the week."

Cal looked relieved. "Good, I'll see you bright and early in the morning then."

Gillian started to leave and met Zoe as she was coming in the door. Zoe smiled until she saw Gillian in Cal's shirt.

"Did you two have a good day?" she asked suspiciously.

"We did…bye, Zoe," Gillian said sweetly. "Sorry, I'm in a hurry, I need to go home and cook dinner for my husband."

Zoe clamped down on her anger. It was said so sweetly but she wondered if Gillian had just insulted her.

Cal had walked away and was putting the spaghetti in the boiling water when she walked in.

"Is there a reason she was wearing your shirt?"

Cal blinked in confusion until he remembered borrowing Gillian a shirt. "I lent her one so she wouldn't get her blouse dirty."

"And what did you two do all day that she would have gotten so dirty?"

Cal opened the door to the office and waved his hand. "Ta da!"

Zoe's eyes widened in surprise at the condition of the office, "Wow, I should have let you hire help a long time ago."

"Foster isn't the hired help, Zoe, I'm hoping she'll agree to be my business parter!"

"What do you mean? _Business partner_?"

"I told you I was offering her a chance to be my partner!"

"You told me you were offering her a job!"

"I can't expect her to quit a damn good job and come work for me at a business that isn't really established, now can I?"

Zoe ignored his comment and cocked her head to the side. "What did you mean when you said if she agrees…"

"She took vacation time from work to try to see how we would structure this business, she said she'd give me a few weeks then decide."

"Well, she's not likely to get a better offer anywhere else…"

Cal frowned as he walked into the kitchen to see to the rest of dinner. Zoe ran upstairs to change and she and Emily came down together as Cal placed the dinner plates on the table.

The next morning, Gillian showed up and could tell Cal and Zoe were involved in a heated discussion. She smiled weakly then slipped into the office and shut the door to give them privacy.

She opened up the credit card receipts for the company then started to put them in date order.

Zoe could be heard screaming at Cal. "You're going to be home all day anyway, what difference does it make?"

"Your daughter has been up puking all night, Zoe, don't you think she wants her mum?"

Zoe spat angrily. "You know she always wants you when she's sick, you'll be here to take care of her."

"I'm working too," Cal countered.

"Oh, please! You're paying Gillian enough, let her do some work."

Gillian frowned at the venom in Zoe's voice until she heard Cal speak quietly. "I'm going to tell you this one last time. I need Foster in this business, if I can't convince her I'm worth the risk, The Lightman Group is going to close. If she agrees to this, she _will_ be my partner so I would suggest you stop referring to her as the hired help."

"Or what?" Zoe asked defiantly.

Cal sighed as he ran a hand down his face and backed off. "Go to work, Zoe, I'll take care of my daughter."

He walked away and effectively ended the argument. Zoe's face fell as once again, he chose someone else over her.

Cal walked upstairs to check that Emily was set for awhile then headed back down.

He made a fresh pot of coffee then brought Gillian a cup with cream and sugar and smiled. "Sorry about that, Em's got a touch of something and we've been up all night taking care of her."

Gillian nodded understandingly. "Don't worry about it, raising kids is tough…"

Cal had backed away from her and she could tell he was listening to something. He frowned apologetically. "I've got to go…"

Cal raced into Emily's bedroom and his daughter was sitting up in bed crying hysterically. She was covered in sweat and Cal felt her forehead. She was burning up and her eyes were glazed over and she was mumbling incoherently.

"Foster!" Cal panicked as he called out.

Gillian raced up the steps. "Cal?!"

"Can you start a cold bath for me?!"

Gillian raced into the hallway and found the bathroom and quickly started to fill the tub with semi cool water. She turned to see Cal carrying his daughter into the bathroom. She blinked in surprise when he slipped into the tub fully clothed and held Emily tightly in his arms. The water level rose quickly and covered them. Gillian shut off the water when it was a few inches from the top as Cal continued to croon to Emily. Gillian grabbed a washcloth and applied it continually to Emily's forehead until she finally blinked in recognition.

"Dad?"

"I'm here, Darling, you're going to be okay now," Cal said as he looked up at Gillian. "Fever broke."

"I'm cold…" Emily's teeth started to chatter.

Cal motioned with his head to Gillian. "Do you mind…linen closet is in the hall."

Gillian knew he wanted her to get towels and she shot to her feet and went to get them. Luckily the closet and the rest of the upstairs seemed untouched by clutter and Gillian was quickly able to get several towels.

She walked back in to find Cal and Emily standing up in the tub. Emily was crying again because she was so cold. Gillian looked at Cal who was trying to cover up for the fact that his lips were blue and he was freezing as well.

Gillian placed the towels on the counter. "Turn on the warm water for the shower."

Cal closed the curtain and did as she asked then held Emily in the warm spray until she stopped shaking uncontrollably.

"Cal," Gillian asked. "Let me take Emily and get her into dry clothes, you can finish up then."

Emily climbed out of the tub and stripped in front of Gillian then allowed herself to be wrapped up in towels.

"Thanks, Gillian," Emily whispered as she looked at her while they walked towards her room. Her face was so pale but she had dark circles of exhaustion under her eyes.

"Oh, sweetheart, you're welcome, I'm sorry you're so sick."

It was only moments before Cal came in dressed in sweat pants and a t shirt and he was carrying a set of clean sheets. Emily was getting dressed so Gillian ran over and stripped the bed sheets for Cal then helped him put the new ones on. Working together they were finished well before Emily was done getting dressed. She was just slipping the shirt over her head when she started to stumble.

Cal raced over and grabbed her to steady her then guided her to the bed. "Woah, there Luv…if you're going to stumble always make sure you've got a nice soft place to land,"

Emily smiled weakly. "I knew you'd catch me…"

"Yep, I'll always be here for you," Cal smiled as he pushed her hair back from her face. "Get some sleep…"

"Okay," Emily sighed as she rolled over and was fast asleep within minutes.

Gillian had made her way downstairs and back towards the office. She stopped off in the kitchen and made Cal a cup of tea then refilled her coffee mug.

Cal walked in and sighed as she handed him his cup. "Thanks, darling, I'm freezing!"

"I bet…I couldn't believe you just hopped into the tub with her."

Cal chuckled. "I found out a long time ago that was the quickest way to break her fevers."

Gillian touched his arm. "You're a great dad!"

"Thanks."

"Look, why don't I grab some of these boxes and head home, I can work there…"

Cal shook his head. "No…its all right, really…Em will sleep all day now, She's on the mend and won't wake until at least 3:00."

Gillian frowned. "I don't want to disturb her…"

"You won't, I promise."

Gillian sat at the desk and went back to work on the credit card receipts. Once she had them in date order she matched them with the statements they corresponded with then set it to the side.

Cal sat at the kitchen table with the receipts she had already completed and jotted quick notes about what cases they corresponded to. His eyes grew heavy and he eventually put his head onto his arm and fell asleep.

An hour later, Gillian came to refill her coffee and saw him at the table.

She stood by his side and lightly touched his shoulder. "Cal…"

Cal shot up from the table. "What?!"

"Sorry…"

"I'm the one who's sorry," Cal said as he walked over to the coffee pot and poured a cup of coffee.

"Maybe you should just go upstairs and rest. I can come back tomorrow…"

Cal's phone rang and he grabbed it. "Lightman." He listened for a few minutes then nodded. "I'm at home, bring it right over." When he hung up, he looked over at Gillian. "We've got a doozy…"

"What is it?" Gillian wondered.

Cal reached for a bottle of aspirin only to find it empty. "Damn!"

Gillian went to her purse and dug out a bottle and tossed it to him.

"Thanks," Cal smiled gratefully as he took two pills out. Gillian handed him a water bottle and he sipped from it.

A knock sounded at the back door and Cal rolled his eyes as he opened it. "You called me from the driveway?"

"Nope, the stop sign."

The man handed Cal a blue file folder which Cal promptly opened as he walked over to stand next to Gillian so she could read along with him.

Their heads were close as they poured over the pages and familiarized themselves with the case.

Cal looked up and saw the man staring at Gillian. "Dr. Gillian Foster, Detective Nolan Martinez."

Nolan extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, Dr. Foster."

"Gillian, please."

"Yeah, call me Nolan."

"Foster here is my new partner."

Nolan blinked in surprise. "Partner? You're kidding right? I thought your wife was the only one stupid enough to tolerate you."

Cal pretended to be offended as he rolled his eyes. "Enough about my wife now tell me about this case."

Nolan filled them in as Gillian sat back quietly and tried to keep the facts straight and form her own opinion. Cal paced the room like a caged animal until Nolan stopped talking.

"Right then, the first thing we have to do is clear the parents name, they didn't kill themselves..."

Gillian frowned as she looked at him in disbelief. "Cal, all of the information gathered points directly against that theory."

Cal shrugged as he shook his head angrily. "I can't believe that a mum and dad would collectively decide to leave their kids behind."

Gillian faltered slightly then shrugged her shoulders as well. "I can't find anything in this file to suggest otherwise."

Cal looked at her pointedly and Gillian blanched at what she perceived was anger coming from him. "Then I suggest we spend some time finding something that will suggest otherwise…"

"Dad?!" a weak voice called from upstairs. Cal continued to pace, seemingly oblivious to Emily.

"Um…Cal, Emily's calling you…" Foster pointed out.

Cal shook his head dismissively as he stood and looked out the window. "Zoe will take care of her…"

Gillian frowned when he continued to pace oblivious to anything but what was going through his own head. She wondered if he even realized that Zoe wasn't here and with a concerned glance she backed slowly out of the room and headed upstairs.

She knocked lightly on the bedroom door. "Emily?"

"Hi, Gillian."

Gillian walked in to find Emily sitting up in bed with pillows propped up behind her and the television on. "Can I get you something?"

"Where's my dad?" Emily asked as she ignored Gillian's question.

Gillian smiled weakly. "Um, downstairs, we're kind of tied up with a case. How are you feeling?"

"Much better thanks, would you ask my dad if I can have some toast and maybe some 7UP?"

Gillian nodded. "Sure, do you want me to bring it up here?"

"If you don't mind…"

"Of course not," Gillian smiled as she headed towards the door. "I'm glad you're feeling better enough to try to keep something down."

Gillian went to the kitchen and quickly made some toast. She spread the smallest amount of butter on it just to give it some moisture then grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator as well as the 7UP.

She glanced at Cal who was still pacing in the office. With a frown, she climbed the steps to take the items to Emily.

"Here you go, Em."

"Thanks, Gillian." Emily said as she reached for the plate. Gillian sat down next to her and watched as she cautiously munched on a piece of toast then slowly drank some of the 7UP.

Gillian realized Emily knew not to chow down on the food or gulp the liquids. She was happy that she was probably on the mend as most of her color had returned.

Emily yawned loudly as she finished her toast. "Wow…I only ate a piece of toast and now I'm totally exhausted!"

Gillian stood and took the dirty plate. "Why don't you try to get some more rest?"

Emily's eyes were already closing. "Yeah, maybe I will."

Gillian knew she'd be asleep again in just a few minutes.

She was about to set Emily's plate in the sink when Zoe walked in the back door.

"Hi," Gillian greeted.

"Hi," Zoe said cautiously. "Um…where's Cal?"

"In the office…"

Zoe went to walk in then saw Nolan standing in the room with Cal and hesitated. "Nolan's here…that can't be good," she said as she turned to Gillian.

"He brought us a case and Cal…" Gillian shrugged with confusion and came to stand by Zoe. "I don't know…for lack of a better term…he just lost it…the facts clearly point in the complete opposite direction he's looking…"

Zoe frowned knowingly. "Is it a suicide case?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

Zoe grimaced then looked in at her husband. "When he was young, Cal's mother committed suicide…every time a case like this comes up he becomes obsessed with it…"

Cal chanced to look up and blinked with surprise to see Zoe.

"How's Em?" he asked as he walked out of the office.

Zoe shook her head with confusion at his question. "I have no idea, I was about to ask you the same thing…"

"Well, Luv, she called out awhile ago, I thought you'd taken care of her…"

"Cal, I just got home…"

Cal frowned and started to walk upstairs when Gillian grabbed his arm.

"I went up to see her, she asked for some toast and 7UP, I brought it to her and she seemed to be able to hold it down, her color looked good and she fell right back asleep."

Gillian had spoken mostly to Zoe but she glanced occasionally at Cal.

Zoe smiled weakly at Gillian. "Thank you, I got home as soon as I could, I was able to get continuances on most of my cases but there was one the judge refused to grant and I had to stay longer than I anticipated."

"That's okay," Gillian smiled warmly. "Emily's a great kid, I didn't mind helping out."

Cal felt bad that he hadn't been there for Emily and grimaced at Zoe. "I'm sorry I let you down, Nolan brought a case…"

"I heard," Zoe interrupted. "Its fine, honey, I get it, I'll clear my schedule for tomorrow and take care of Emily, do what you have to do…"

"Thanks, Darling," Cal said gratefully as he kissed his wife's cheek. He turned and grabbed Foster's arm and dragged her back into the office. "Let's get you up to speed then, all right?"

Gillian almost fell over when he grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly along behind him. She quickly got her footing and slipped into a seat in the office where Cal bombarded her with his thoughts and feelings about the case.

"So what do ya' think, Foster?"

Gillian frowned and looked at him intently. "I…I'm not sure…I'm not seeing the same things that you are…"

"You think I'm wrong too?" Cal said sadly as he shook his head in dismay.

"I didn't say that!" Gillian quickly countered. "Cal…I…don't have any of the training in lie detection that you have so I'm not seeing things they way you do… _ **but**_ …I do have a gut feeling that there's something not right about all of this."

Cal whirled around and walked over to her, standing way too close to her. "Go with your gut, Gill, what do you feel?"

Gillian had initially balked at his closeness but then relaxed when he stopped just short of touching her. She squared her shoulders and began. "They were still so young, by all accounts they seemed madly in love and they were awesome parents…their financial problems weren't that great and I don't feel it was a sum so insurmountable as to send them over the edge."

Cal sighed as he smiled at her insight. "Thank you!"

Gillian cocked her head. "For agreeing with you?"

"For opening your mind to other possibilities…"

The partners sat with the detective and formulated a plan and after a short interview, Cal determined that it was the wife's brother who actually killed the young couple. Once it was determined that the murder/suicide was actually a double homicide, the insurance company paid the policies and the grandparents who were awarded custody gave The Lightman Group a huge payout.

Four days later, they were standing in his kitchen and Cal proudly handed Gillian that check. "See what we accomplished by working together?"

Gillian's eyes grew round as she looked at the size of the check. "Wow!"

Cal shrugged. "Lie detection can be a lucrative business. Have you decided yet if you're in or not?"

Gillian frowned as she looked at Cal worriedly. "Can we sit and talk for a minute?"

"Uh, oh…" Cal muttered as they walked into the office. Cal sat on the edge of the desk as Gillian settled into a chair. He could see she was struggling to find the words to break the news to him. "Just say it Gillian."

Gillian squared her shoulders and resigned herself to telling him the truth. "The Lightman Group has no formal accounting system."

Cal grimaced as he made a face. "I…know…I keep meaning to get around to it…but…"

Gillian smiled indulgently as she shook her head and continued. "I could find no record of any type of accounting system so, for the past week, I've gone home each night and spent time creating books and documenting all income and expenses…"

She walked over and lifted the lid off of one of the boxes. Cal glanced and saw that there were color coordinated file folders in the boxes and everything was neatly marked.

"I should probably give you a bonus…" he said sheepishly.

Gillian rolled her eyes. "That's not why I did it…if I'm going to make a decision as to whether or not I'm going to do this with you, I needed all the facts."

"So, what did you find?" Cal asked tentatively. Gillian frowned at him and he lowered his eyes. "I can take it, Foster…"

"Okay…The Lightman Group is definitely a viable company…" Cal's head shot up as he looked at her with surprise. "…I see no reason that we can't grow the company and continue to maintain our current financial standards…"

"So you're in?!"

Gillian sighed again. "I'm not sure…there has to be some changes…"

"Yeah, sure…whatever you say…whatever you need me to do, I'll do it…are you in?"

Gillian ignored him and continued. "These changes have to do with personal expenditures being run through the company books…"

"Uh, oh!" Cal frowned.

"Yeah…"

It was Cal's turn to grimace as he started to pace. "So, Zoe and I have been running too much personal stuff through the books?"

"Kind of…"

"Kind of…what kind of answer is that?"

" _ **Your**_ expenditures for the most part are viable business deductions..."

"And Zoe's are all personal…"

"In a manner of speaking…" Gillian said diplomatically.

Cal chuckled. "Victoria Secret lingerie and pizza parties not on the expense account…got it!"

Gillian smiled that he was being so understanding. "Cal…let me show you something…" She sat and opened up her laptop. "This is what you made in income last year…"

" _ **We**_ made…" he corrected as he bent over and gasped at the bottom line. "At's a lot of money."

"This is what was spent…"

"Oh…"

"Yeah, for this to be successful, you need to issue yourself a paycheck and stop using the company as a petty cash fund." Cal nodded as she continued. "Now if we do at least the same number of cases that we did this past year, this amount is what I feel the company can afford to each pay us as a salary…"

Cal blinked in surprise at the number. "At's a pretty good amount."

"I feel the same way."

"But…" Cal changed the numbers so that the two of them made the same amount of money. "This is how the payout should be."

Gillian smiled nervously as she continued. "Thanks…we can discuss that later…now this is the amount we would have for new equipment or expansion if all expenses are company related."

"Look, Luv, Zoe was on the bank account because I thought with me being alone that would be a good idea, we'll close that account and open up a new one with our names only and nothing will be put through unless you approve it…"

"You might want to run that passed your wife…"

"Nope, our company, our rules…are you in?"

"If Zoe agrees to the new rules…" Gillian smiled brightly. "Then yes, I'm in…I'll be your partner!"

Cal ran to her and crushed her to his chest in a warm hug. "You've made me a very happy man! You won't regret this I promise…"

Gillian giggled at his exuberance. "I said if Zoe agrees!"

Cal sniffled indifferently as he shrugged his shoulders. "All right, then Alec needs to agree too, print up these numbers and the four of us can have dinner tonight. If spouses agree, we'll move ahead…"

Gillian nodded as she picked up the phone. "Seems fair."

That night, the two couples sat down together for dinner. As Zoe and Alec were meeting for the first time, they kept the conversation centered around learning about each other. After dinner, Cal stood up and grabbed a folder off the desk. Gillian opened it and handed to Zoe and Alec a rundown of the company's financial statement.

"It's time for me to make a decision as to whether or not I'm going to go back to the Pentagon or continue to work with Cal. I've been spending time at home the last week to organize his books so I could have a better understanding of…"

Cal impatiently rolled his eyes. "Luv, they can see that; it's all right there! Look, Foster says she'll go into partnership but the conditions are that it's all right with you two." Cal showed them page two. "This is the amount that we would each be paid if we do nothing but the same amount of work we've been doing all along."

Gillian looked at Alec who nodded his approval, she looked at Zoe but all she could see was a blank look. "I also showed that if we accepted a higher case load, we will certainly see an influx of cash that would enable us to invest in better equipment."

"And possibly an increase in salary, once the equipment had been paid off." Alec added as Gillian smiled lovingly at him. "Honey, that sounds fine with me, you've taken on extra cases all this time and we're financially in a pretty sound place because of it, if you want to make this move, I have no problem with it."

Gillian threw her arms around Alec's neck and kissed him. "Thank you, Honey."

Zoe shot Cal a look then shrugged indifferently. Gillian looked at her warily. "Zoe, if you're still uncomfortable with this…I can turn down the offer."

"Bloody hell," Cal scraped his hand across his face as he looked at his wife.

Zoe saw the worry on his face and smiled. "No, it's a good move. Cal relies on you and I know he appreciates your insights into the work. He sleeps a lot better at night…"

"So it's okay with you, Luv?" Cal asked as he reached for her hands.

"Sure," Zoe smiled.

Cal hugged her warmly and delivered a sloppy kiss.

The two couples retired to the living room and spent another hour eating cake and drinking coffee. It was getting late and Alec and Gillian left to go home.

Cal turned off all the lights and headed upstairs. Zoe was sitting popped up in bed with the financial papers of the company in her hand.

"Uh, oh," Cal frowned as he looked at her warily. "What are those for?"

Zoe's brows rose in surprise. "You have to ask?"

Cal sighed as he sat down on her side of the bed. "You said you were okay with this Zoe!"

"I just want to know why she's making as much money as you?"

"She's my partner, Zoe!"

"She doesn't have your knowledge!"

"No and I don't have hers! We each bring our own level of expertise to the table."

"And you don't think you bring more to the table?"

"I'll start teaching Foster tomorrow. She's smart; she'll be able to pick things up in no time."

Zoe sighed. "Fine, so this is your new salary?"

"Yep, with you working now, we should have no trouble making it on that, we've been dipping into the company for far too long for stuff we really don't need."

"By we you mean me?"

"I didn't say that, but the company hasn't had the money to buy the things I need to do my job properly."

"Like better equipment…"

"It would make it a whole lot easier if I could replay interviews that had better clarity and on a bigger screen."

Zoe smiled and nodded. "I get it, I just don't know how I feel about you having another woman's name on your checkbook."

"Its not another woman, its Foster were talking about here…Dr. Foster who came here tonight with her husband…"

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Those two do seem like they're still in the honeymoon stage."

Cal scooted against her and grabbed her around the waist. "We are too!"

Zoe rolled her eyes as she dropped the financial report to the floor then turned off the light to make love with her husband.

The next morning, Cal got every piece of equipment out and lined it up around the room. He had all of the programs up and running before Gillian came over.

"What's all this?" she asked with surprise when she walked into the room.

"Back to school," Cal said as he handed her a cup of coffee.

Gillian followed him to the first computer and sat in the chair he offered.

For the next two weeks, Cal taught her everything he knew. Gillian was a quick study and would go over at various points in the day and practice reading people from old footage.

It wasn't long before she was pretty good at it and was able to "carry her weight" in the new company.


	8. Chapter 8

_**CHAPTER**_ __ _ **8**_

Three months into their partnership, Gillian showed up for work like any other day.

Cal could tell immediately that something was bothering her. "Feeling under the weather, Luv?"

Gillian blanched at his question. "I'm fine." she said abruptly as she walked past him.

Cal took the reprimand to heart. Although she was pale and looked like she'd been crying, she worked at her normal pace and didn't seem affected by illness.

They broke for lunch and Gillian sat in the kitchen and quietly ate her soup.

Cal flopped in the chair across from her and took a bite of his sandwich. He observed her for awhile and noticed that although she was no longer pale, her eyes still didn't have the same liveliness and sparkle they normally had.

"Maybe we should have an early day today…" he said after they finished their meal.

"Why?" Gillian wondered as she thought about the pile of bills she needed to enter.

Cal shrugged. "I can tell you don't feel well."

"I'm fine…"

"At's not true; if you're not sick…do you want to tell me what's bothering you?"

"It's personal," she looked at him angrily as she stood. "You know…just because we can read each other doesn't mean we have a right to."

"Kinda hard to shut off what we do…"

Gillian ignored him. "We need to establish a boundary between us."

"A boundary?"

"Yeah, like a line, an imaginary line that neither one of us will cross. Unless it's work related, we don't cross that line…ever…our personal lives remain personal."

"All right," Cal blanched at her anger. "Whatever you say, Luv."

Gillian nodded then walked into the office where she buried herself in accounting for the rest of the afternoon.

The next day, she was back to her usual perkiness and things went back to normal.

Eight months later, Zoe came home after work to find equipment neatly stacked on newly made shelves in the garage. She was barely able to fit her car inside.

She walked into the kitchen, dumped the groceries on the counter then walked into Cal's office. "Cal, maybe its time for The Lightman Group to start renting out office space somewhere?"

Cal looked around his cramped office and then thought of the files and equipment stacked neatly in the garage. "At might me a good idea, yeah?" he asked sheepishly.

Zoe sighed. "Yeah, you and Gillian keep taking on more cases and I love the fact that your business seems to be taking off but your stuff is kind of taking over our home."

"I'll tell Foster we need to find somewhere to move, can I have a few days?"

Zoe smiled. "No, you can take as long as you need to; I just want to have our home back."

Grateful for her understanding, Cal moved in for a kiss, which quickly escalated and ended with them upstairs and in bed.

Three months later, The Lightman Group was fully ensconced in their new office in the heart of Washington D.C. Gillian and Cal each had their own desk, on either side of the office. Between the two desks sat all of the analyzing equipment they used on a daily basis.

Their connections in the Pentagon as well as other various government agencies brought them more work then they could handle and Gillian was able to hire a young man named Eli Loker.

Cal was seemingly unimpressed but Gillian could tell that after a month or so, Cal really appreciated the intern's abilities with the electronics. He even spent time with him after work, showing him the training videos he has used when he was teaching Gillian.

With Eli's help, the three solved cases even faster and their case load was gradually increasing. It seemed like the government offices were always coming up with cases and the influx of cash did wonders for the business. Cal and Eli searched extensively for better equipment.

Two years passed and they expanded into the building next to their current one then eventually hired a receptionist/secretary and a few more interns from a local college.

Emily started stopping by after school and if Cal was busy she spent time with Gillian in her office.

The two quickly became close and Cal often found Emily sitting with Gillian instead of him after school.

Things were slowly getting worse with Cal's marriage. Zoe and he seemed to be fighting about everything and the last time they had a company function to attend at the Defense Department, Gillian noticed Zoe flirting outrageously with ever man in the room. She also noticed how Cal tried to cover up his feelings.

Alec came over and whispered in his wife's ear. "There's trouble brewing with those two." He said as he nodded towards Cal and Zoe.

"You see it too?" Gillian wondered as she caught his eye.

"Zoe just told me that I had gorgeous eyes and she could see why you were so attracted to me. She asked me if I was good in bed…"

"She didn't?!"

Alec shrugged and she could tell he had told her the truth. "Oh my God, poor Cal."

"I don't know how he's holding it together, he's pretty hot headed."

Gillian scowled as she looked at the pain and embarrassment Zoe was causing Cal. "He's hurting too much right now to think about lashing out…maybe we should go sit with him for awhile…"

Alec shook his head. "Honey, I'm not getting in the middle of that, besides I came to try to network. Look there's Senator Wilson over there, I'm going to go and introduce myself, you can go babysit Cal if you want."

Gillian kissed Alec's cheek. "I love you, thanks for being so understanding."

"I love you too, babe!"

Alec left and Gillian went and sat in a seat across the table from Cal.

"Hi," she greeted quietly.

"Foster…"

"Do you mind if I sit for awhile?"

Cal shrugged indifferently. "Table's open."

"Thanks, Alec went to make the rounds of introductions to Senators and I'm just really not up for small talk."

A waiter stopped by and Gillian asked for a pot of coffee and two mugs. He was back in record time and Gillian poured a cup for Cal then pushed it his way before she poured herself a cup and added cream and sugar.

"I heard through the grapevine that the Defense Department and the CIA have some cases they're sending our way."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah, some of them sound pretty challenging…"

"Huh…"

"Two of them, I think we should get on as soon as they come in. They're high profile cases and if we settle them quickly we can get that new computer you and Loker keep talking about…"

"Whatever…"

Gillian pretended to get mad and stood up. "Look, I'm sorry I'm bothering you but with Alec gone I really had no one else to talk to, I saw you sitting here and I thought you wouldn't mind, I'll just go…"

Her unusual display of anger had the desired effect and Cal shook off his melancholy mood. "Foster, wait! I'm sorry, I just…"

Gillian sat back down as he fumbled for the right words. "Had too much to drink?" she offered.

He jumped at her handy excuse. "Yeah, thanks for the coffee." Gillian nodded then Cal took a long sip before he looked at her. "So what about these cases…"

Gillian told him what she knew and the conversation flowed easily between them.

Keeping an eye on them and seeing that Cal was no longer hurt by her actions, Zoe made her way over to him. "I'm ready to go home now, how about you?"

"I'm talking to Foster here," Cal pointed out.

Zoe flashed an annoyed grin. "Don't you see her like twelve hours a day every day?"

Cal shrugged. "Yeah, but it seems like _**we**_ always have something to talk about."

Gillian smiled weakly. "If you two will excuse me, Alec is waving me over. It was nice to see you again, Zoe, Cal, I'll see you tomorrow."

Gillian left and Zoe started in on Cal. They left immediately and fought all the way home in the car then continued into the next morning. This went on for over a month.

Two days later, Gillian walked into the bathroom at the Lightman Group and found Emily sitting on the countertop. Her socks and shoes were tossed precariously around the floor and her feet were in the basin of the sink. Her legs were slathered with shaving lotion and she held a razor in her hand. Gillian glanced to see a long line of red blood trickling down one of her legs.

Emily looked at her with big tears in her eyes. "I just cut myself!"

"I see…" Gillian sighed as she stepped forward. She grabbed a piece of paper towel and held it against the cuts. "First time?"

"Yeah…"

Gillian frowned as she leaned against the wall. "You should have waited for your Mom to help you…"

Emily scowled at her. "My Mom said I was too young to shave my legs!"

"Oh…"

Emily's lips quivered as she held back her tears. "Other girls are shaving already but my Mom didn't care about them…today I heard some girls talking about my hairy legs…"

"Oh…" Gillian frowned as she pulled the hair back from Emily's face and tucked it behind her ear. "But…"

"I shouldn't care what other people say about me, its their insecurities that make them say mean stuff…" Emily mocked as she rolled her eyes.

Gillian hid her smile as Emily. "So who is he?"

"Who?"

"The boy who overheard them saying that then suddenly looked at you differently?"

"How did you know?" Emily's eyes were wide with surprise.

"Because I was your age once too…"

"Steven…"

"Is Steven normally nice?"

"Yeah, he's cool!"

Gillian sighed as she looked at Emily. "Tell you what…let me tell your Dad and if he's not opposed to the idea, I'll help you with this…"

"Okay," Emily grumbled.

Gillian looked outside the bathroom door and saw Cal at the end of the hallway.

"Cal!" she motioned to him after he looked up then went back inside.

Totally confused, Cal walked into the bathroom then stopped dead in his tracks. "Bloody hell, Em!" he exclaimed with concern then groaned. "Didn't your Mum tell you no?!"

"Yeah but Dad…"

"Cal," Gillian said as she placed a hand on his arm. "Emily is wanting some help with this and I'd he happy to assist her but I wanted your permission."

Cal sighed deeply as he quickly "read" Gillian. He could see they had already discussed everything but his headstrong daughter was going to do it any way. "Yeah, all right, I better bloody let you help or I'll be taking her in for skin grafts!"

Emily squealed excitedly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…"

"Yeah," Cal grumbled as he contemplated the coming argument with Zoe.

Gillian spent the next twenty minutes carefully showing Emily how to shave her legs.

Emily listened intently then afterwards hugged Gillian. "Thanks for helping me, Gill!"

"You're welcome…you know you're Mom's going to be furious…"

Emily shrugged indifferently. "I'll just tell her I did it by myself!"

"That would be a lie…" Gillian pointed our softly.

"No…I did do it by myself you never once touched the razor!"

Gillian knew it was a distortion of the truth but realized it wasn't her business and threw up her hands in mock surrender. "This is up to your parents now…I'm out of it."

That night the argument was huge and Cal ended up sleeping on the couch.

Emily started spending more and more time with Gillian. Zoe called everyday after school to make sure Emily had gotten there all right and inevitably she and Cal got into an argument.

Cal slammed down the phone then frowned as he went in search if his daughter. "Hey, what's with you spending time with Foster after school instead of your old Dad?"

"I'm sick of listening to you and Mom fight everyday, it's quiet in here and I can do my homework."

Cal shot a look at Gillian who pretended to be looking outside before he looked down apologetically at Emily. "Aye, I'm sorry about that Luv, things have been kind of rocky lately, but we're trying to work them out, it'll get better, I promise."

"Well, they can't get much worse can they?" Emily wondered aloud as Cal grimaced.

Emily was wrong…they did get worse and they stayed worse.


	9. Chapter 9

_**CHAPTER 9**_ __

The Lightman Group had secured exclusive contracts with several government agencies. Their work load was going to triple.

Cal was filled with pride and Gillian was equally happy that not only was his science finally being recognized but the influx of cash was going to go a long way towards paying off some debt and enabling them to hire more people.

It was late on a Wednesday night when Cal came into her office holding a bottle of wine in one hand and two glasses in the other.

Gillian smiled at him curiously. "What's this?"

Cal handed her the bottle. "This is a very expensive bottle of wine. It's a gift…from Bud Jackson."

Gillian's face showed her shock. "Bud Jackson sent YOU a gift."

"At's what I said," Cal answered as he set the glasses down then proceeded to open the bottle. "Fancy having a drink with me?"

Gillian gave a slight nod as she folded her arms in front of her. "That man hated you, he told me you were the most unprofessional person he ever dealt with!"

Cal shrugged as he handed her a glass. "At might be true but I just saved him fifteen million dollars so I'm thinking he got over it."

Gillian took the glass then leaned back in her seat and took a sip. "This is good!"

Cal grinned as he took a seat and just started to talk. The started out talking about their cases then they moved onto topic after topic just enjoying each others company. At some point, Gillian walked over to her closet and removed a grocery bag. She set it by her desk and grabbed a second bottle of wine and held it up for him to see.

Cal nodded as she handed it to him to open. Cal grinned, "You started drinking at work? Am I that hard to work with?"

"I bought it at lunch. Alec and I were supposed to have dinner tonight to celebrate his promotion. He called an hour ago and said he wasn't going to make it." She nodded at the bottle. "It won't be as good as the one we just drank and if you need to get home…"

Cal interrupted her. "Nope, Zoe took Emily shopping at the mall. Em just shot up in height like overnight and none of her clothes fit anymore, she looks like an orphan."

Gillian chuckled as he poured her another glass and they slipped right back to their easy conversation.

Four hours later, Cal's phone rang. Gillian gasped when she realized it was almost ten o'clock!

Cal answered. "Hello, Darling!"

"Where the hell are you?" Zoe's angry voice could be heard through the phone.

Cal made a face before he grabbed for a journal and opened it. "Foster and I are going over the books. With all the new contracts she feels we'll be able to hire some more people and give ourselves a little raise. Might help towards paying for all the clothes you just bought our daughter. How much damage did you do to the credit card?"

Zoe must have answered because Gillian heard Cal say. "Ouch that much aye? Well, I guess if she needs it…hey, we're finishing up here so I should be home in a little while…"

Gillian guessed Zoe said something racy because Cal's voice got low and seductive. "Oh, yeah? Well, I better get home quickly then."

Cal hung up then jumped to his feet. "I got to go, Foster, gather up your stuff and I'll walk you to your car."

Gillian glanced at the dirty glasses and empty bottles. "I just have to…"

Cal grabbed her hand. "Nope, come on, they'll still be here in the morning!"

"Cal, I can't let the staff see alcohol on my desk! What kind of a message would that send?!"

Cal rolled his eyes as he pointed at her door. "That's why they invented door locks! Let's go!"

Gillian frowned with indecision but reached for her purse and let him walk her to her car. "This was fun, Cal."

"At it was; you and me have become good friends, yeah?"

"Yep, best blokes!" Gillian giggled as she tried to mimic Cal's accent.

"At's pretty good…" Cal chuckled. "You okay to drive?"

"I'm fine…how are you?"

"Peachy…"

"Okay."

"Be careful, Foster."

"You too, goodnight, Cal."

"Later."


	10. Chapter 10

_**CHAPTER 10**_

Over the course of the next two years, Zoe and Cal struggled to make it work. When they weren't going at it fighting, they were going at it making love. The constant roller coaster of emotions meant the house was constantly fraught with tension and it was a miserable living arrangement for everyone.

Finally ready to move on, Zoe found an apartment across town and one Friday took the day off of work. She moved all of her clothes to the apartment and about half of Emily's things. Her car was loaded with the last of her things when Cal came home that night with Emily.

Cal walked in the back door and looked at his wife and knew something was different. "What's that look for?"

"Emily, get in my car, please."

"Why? What's going on?"

"Emily!" Zoe shouted angrily.

"Hey, don't take it out on her! If you're mad at me fine, but she doesn't deserve this!" Cal spat angrily.

"I'm leaving, Cal! I rented an apartment across town; Emily will spend the weekend with me until we've had a chance to figure things out."

"I'm not going with you!" Emily cried out from the doorway.

Zoe ignored her as she looked at Cal. "I'm filing papers for a divorce on Monday."

"You bitch!" Emily spat as she ran up to her bedroom and locked herself in.

Cal looked defeated. "So that's it then, you've already decided? You're done with me…"

"We were done a long time ago, Cal." She walked over to the base of the steps and shouted loudly. "Emily?!"

"Leave her here, I'll talk to her. Come get her in the morning."

Zoe knew he stood a better chance of reasoning with Emily and nodded. "All right. I'll be by at nine."

She walked out the door and Cal closed his eyes at the sound of the final door slam in his marriage.

He turned to go to the living room then heard Emily sobbing upstairs. With a grimace, he slowly walked up to her room.

"Em?"

"Go away!"

"I can't do that, Luv, can I come in?"

Emily didn't answer and when Cal walked into the room she looked up at him angrily. She was shocked to see the devastation on his face and the tears in his eyes and swallowed down her retort as she looked at him worriedly. "Daddy?"

Cal sat down on the side of her bed and blinked back the tears. "It's gonna be all right, Em, I promise, it's gonna hurt really bad for a while then we'll find a way to get over all this."

Emily cried then stared out the window of her room in a daze. Cal got up and headed down to start to make something for dinner.

"Em, dinner!" he called upstairs.

Emily came immediately and slid into her seat at the table. Both of them tried to ignore the empty place setting where Zoe normally sat. They were each silent as they pushed their food around on their plates.

Once it was cold, Cal looked at Emily and shrugged as he offered her a weak smile. "Not one of my better meals."

Emily smiled up at him. "You're a great cook, Dad. I don't think either one of us felt like eating."

Cal nodded as he carried their unfinished meals and put them in the sink.

"Dad?"

"Yeah, Em?" he sighed at the uncertainty in her voices as he grabbed for the counter to steel himself for what was coming next.

"You're not going to make me go live with her, are you?"

"I don't know, Em…she's your Mum."

"And you're my Dad!" Cal frowned as he tried to figure out what to say to her. "You don't want me here?"

"Oh, Darling, you know that's not true." He said as he pulled her into his arms. "You're the most important person in my life; of course I want you here!"

Cal lifted her easily into his arms and carried her to the sofa in the living room. "I would love for you to stay with me, Em, truth is I have no idea what your mum is thinking and I'm not sure what's going on. But I promise, Luv, we'll talk on Monday and come up with a good plan for all of us."

Emily snuggled against him and after awhile fell asleep in his arms. Cal carried her up to her bedroom but she clung to his neck. "No, Daddy! Can I sleep in your room with you?!"

Cal sighed and carried her to his bed and laid her on Zoey's side of the bed. He slipped the covers over her then grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a shirt and headed to the bathroom to go change clothes. He came back and slid into bed then lightly caressed Emily's back until he felt her go to sleep.

He turned over to stare at the wall and then cried himself to sleep.

The next day, Cal cooked breakfast and he and Emily enjoyed the meal despite the dread they were both feeling. Zoe knocked on the door and at Cal's nod, Emily walked out the door to meet her mother.

The silence enveloped him and he felt his world shatter into pieces. He walked to the sofa then collapsed on it as he broke down and cried. A short time later, he got up and walked into the kitchen. He crabbed a cup to make some tea but looked up and saw the cabinet where the liquor was stored. With nothing left to lose, he grabbed a bottle of scotch and headed back into the living room. He flipped on the television and stared at the screen then proceeded to drink the entire bottle.

He woke twelve hours later and staggered into the kitchen once again. He grabbed a piece of bread as he opened up the liquor cabinet. He frowned when he saw it was filled with the white wine Zoe liked. Scowling, he grabbed his car keys then thought briefly of whether or not he was sober enough to actually be driving. He convinced himself it was only a few miles away and that he'd be fine.

Cal walked slowly into the liquor store and grabbed bottle after bottle of scotch, whiskey, bourbon and gin. The man at the counter blinked with surprise but Cal ignored him as he whipped out his credit card to pay then grabbed the bag from him and walked out the door.

Walking into his house, he set the bag on the counter in the kitchen, grabbed one of the bottles and walked back into the living room.

Days passed and Cal remained in a drunken fog. It was Wednesday before Gillian finally started to get worried. She had made repeated phone calls to both his cell phone and house phone but no one ever answered or returned her call. She frowned when she wondered if something bad had happened to him and wondered if Zoe would have bothered to call her to let her know.

At lunch, she got up and headed over to their house. She frowned when she saw Cal's car in the driveway parked at an angle where it blocked all access to the garage. She wondered how Zoe was supposed to get in and out of the garage then became really worried that something horrible had happened to Emily.

She walked up to the front door and saw Cal's keys dangling from the lock. She wondered how exhausted he had to be to leave his keys in the door as she knocked loudly. No one answered so she rang the doorbell and knocked again.

When there was still no answer, Gillian stood and debated what to do. She went to use his key but found that the door was unlocked. She peeked her head inside the door and called out. "Cal! Zoe! Hello?!"

When no one answered, she took a few steps inside and called out again. "Cal, it's me…Cal? Zoe?"

She walked in a few more steps when she heard someone moan. Her heart leapt in her chest as she dropped her purse to the floor and ran quickly through the house. "Cal!"

She raced around the corner and slammed to a stop. Cal was sprawled out on the sofa; empty bottles of liquor littered the floor around him. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she rolled her eyes.

"Great! I'm busting my ass at work and you're at home having a party!"

Cal blinked as he heard a voice and called out hopefully. "Zoe?"

"No!"

He rolled over onto his back and threw an arm over his eyes "Foster…" he said with resignation.

"Yeah."

"What?"

"What?!" Gillian's anger level went through the roof. "What…what?! What am I doing here? What do I want?"

"Yeah."

Cal began to retch. He was so drunk and so weak he couldn't sit up and as he began to vomit he started to choke. Gillian gasped and ran to his side. She grabbed his arm and was able to pull him to his side as the contents of his stomach splattered down the front of her pants.

Gillian leapt back and looked at her clothes then spat angrily as she carefully slipped off her cover up. "That's great!" Cal moaned aloud and she shook her head. "Someone needs to get you cleaned up before Emily gets home!"

"Not coming home."

"Not coming home? Cal, where's Zoe?"

"Gone…"

Gillian's heart sank and she wondered if it was a car accident or something equally as tragic then her thoughts turned to Emily and she panicked. "Gone! What happened? Is Emily okay? Cal!" she said as she shook him roughly.

"Zoe left me!" he groaned. "She left me…"

Gillian's eyes closed with relief as she realized there was no accident and that Emily was fine. She was filled with sympathy as she looked down at her partner and realized he was devastated and had drank himself to oblivion to stop feeling the pain.

"Cal, c'mon, let's try to get you cleaned up."

"Just go."

"No…I'm not leaving you alone like this.

"You'll leave…you'll leave just like everyone else."

"I'm here and I'm not going anywhere so get up!"

Cal slowly sat up. The movement caused his head to spin and he vomited on his shirt. Gillian backed away and waited until he finished. She ran to the linen closet and came back and handed him some rags. "Here…"

Cal took the rags and held them against his shirt to try and soak up the vomit as he leaned his head back.

"You need to get in the shower."

"Why?"

Gillian frowned. "Oh, I don't know, maybe so you can go to work."

"It's Saturday…"

"It's Wednesday, Cal!"

Cal blinked in surprise as he held his hand to his head. "Wednesday?!"

"Yeah."

He realized he had been drinking for five straight days and with a shrug, he laid his head back. "I don't care."

Gillian saw the look of defeat in his eyes and her sympathy returned. "Yeah, I know, but you need to care."

"Why…when you care you just get hurt…in the end you always just get hurt!"

Gillian reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "It doesn't always turn out that way, Cal. Come on, let me help you get upstairs."

Cal frowned as she tried to help him up. "Don't know if I can."

Gillian steadied him as he tried to stand. She slipped his arm around her shoulder so she could help him walk to the stairs. She gasped and held her breath as the smell of liquor and vomit assaulted her nose.

Cal looked at her sheepishly. "That bad?"

Gillian looked at him. "It's not good."

At the base of the steps, Cal removed his arm and held onto the wall. "I can go it alone…go home, Foster. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?!" Cal stumbled up the steps and headed towards the bathroom.

Gillian turned and blinked with shock as she looked into the kitchen. The kitchen was normally the cleanest room in the house now the counter tops were filled with dirty dishes and empty bottles of liquor.

With a sigh, she grabbed for her phone and called the office to leave a message.

"Hi, this is Dr. Foster. I won't be in for the rest of the day."

After she hung up the phone, she quickly filled the dishwasher and started the first load. She grabbed a garbage bag and threw away the bottles of liquor as well as three empty bottles of white wine. "He doesn't even like white wine!" she muttered as she made her way into the living room where she found more empty bottles and some dirty dishes.

She hauled the bag of bottles out to recycling then came back in and stacked the dirty dishes in the sink where they would be ready for the next load.

Finding the cleaning supplies, she walked into the living room and wiped down the sofa. "He's lucky it's leather," she muttered as she wiped up his vomit.

She got on her hands and knees and held her breath as she scrubbed the carpeting where the rest of his stomach contents had landed. Knowing it had to dry before she could clean it further, she walked into the kitchen and began to scrub the counter tops and within fifteen minutes had the kitchen spotless again.

Hearing the shower shut off, she pushed the button on the coffee maker and started a fresh pot.

Cal had dressed then slowly made his way downstairs and held onto the wall of the kitchen. "You're still here?"

"Yeah," she said as she set a cup of coffee down in front of him.

Cal's hands shook as he tried to pick it up. Gillian realized he was in worse shape then she thought and she reached out and steadied his hand as he brought the mug to his lips and took a sip.

"Thanks," he said quietly as he glanced at her with bloodshot eyes.

Gillian ignored him and popped a slice of bread in the toaster, when it popped up she buttered it lightly and pushed it towards him.

Cal ignored it as his head hung down.

Gillian squeezed his arm. "I have to use the bathroom, I'll be right back."

She walked up the steps and her nose wrinkled in disgust at the smell. She peeked in his bedroom. His bed was unmade and she could see that he had vomited as well as urinated in his sleep.

She quickly walked into the bathroom then gasped when she saw that he had tried to make the toilet and missed. She stepped out of the room and went to use the main bathroom in the hallway. She peeked into Emily's room and was grateful it looked exactly the same.

She headed back downstairs and saw that Cal had at least eaten half of the piece of toast. She went to refill his coffee mug but he shook his head.

"I can't, Luv."

"Why don't you try to get some sleep?"

Cal shrugged. "No where to go."

"Emily's room is clean, come on, I'll help you up."

Gillian put her hand on his back as he stood. He was still weak but he showed a little improvement and made it back up the steps without too much trouble.

He hesitated briefly as he looked at Emily's room with tears in his eyes. "I keep forgetting she won't be sleeping here."

"Sure she will," Gillian said as she pulled back the sheets and helped him settle down.

Cal lay down and as his head hit the pillow he closed his eyes. "Foster…"

Gillian smiled when his voice trailed off. "You're welcome," she supplied when she guessed what he was going to say."

She smoothed back his hair and saw him take a deep breath. Within a minute, she knew he was asleep.

She sighed as she walked back into the master bath. She grabbed dirty towels from the hamper and cleaned up what she could from around the toilet then dumped all of them in the hamper. She lugged the hamper down the steps and started a load of laundry.

She headed back up then pulled the sheets off his bed and carried the makeshift bundle down and unceremoniously dumped it on the floor of the laundry room.

She headed back up and scrubbed down the bathroom, then walked to the linen closet and grabbed fresh sheets for the bed. She thought about vacuuming but didn't want to disturb Cal so she headed back downstairs.

As she looked around the room, she noticed that Zoe's leaving had resulted in empty spaces on shelves where her personal items had been. Gillian grabbed a dust rag and dusted shelves as she moved items around so the empty spots wouldn't be so noticeable. When she was done, she quickly grabbed the vacuum and made her way around the room.

Satisfied that the place looked decent again, she walked into the kitchen. The dishwasher was done and she put away the dishes and started another load. Pots and pans were the only items left but Gillian filled them with hot soapy water so the baked on food would soften.

Her stomach grumbled and she opened the refrigerator to look for a snack. She blinked when she saw an empty ketchup bottle, a half empty bottle of mustard and an expired carton of milk. She closed the door and glanced up the steps as she grabbed for her purse. She grabbed the extra house key on the rack in the pantry and headed out the door.

She walked into the grocery store where she swept through the outer aisles and picked up all of the essentials then made her way to the inside aisles to pick up new condiments and canned goods.

She let herself back into his house and deposited the bags of groceries on the counter top. She quietly walked up the steps and stood outside of Emily's door. She could hear Cal lightly snoring and she smiled as she headed back downstairs.

She opened the refrigerator and decided to give it a thorough cleaning. She dumped the slimy vegetables from the bottom drawer as well as the spoiled fruit from the next drawer. With a quick glance at the rest of the items, she decided to throw everything out and start fresh.

She scrubbed down the walls and shelves then put all of the new items away.

Her phone rang and with a smile she picked it up. "Hi, Honey!"

"Hey, Babe!"

Gillian glanced at the clock and frowned. "Are you heading home already?"

"No, I have to work late, that's why I called."

"Oh," Gillian tried to hide her disappointment.

"I'm sorry; you know how it is…"

"Yeah."

Alec sighed at the tone in her voice. "Can I make it up to you tomorrow? Maybe we can go out to eat? Mario's?" he asked, knowing it was her favorite restaurant.

"Sure."

"I'm sorry you have to eat alone again."

Gillian made an instant decision. "I won't, I guess I'll have dinner with Cal. Zoe left him over the weekend and I think he could use a friend right about now…"

"Yeah, Honey, whatever…I've got to go…"

Alec hung up abruptly as Gillian looked at the phone and frowned. "I love you too," she said sarcastically as she set the phone down.

Gillian walked into their old office and settled down at Cal's computer. She signed on and was able to access The Lightman Group's computers and settled down to get some work done.

While she worked, she kept the laundry going and had all of the towels washed and folded as well as most of the bed linen and even a few loads of Cal and Emily's clothes.

A few hours later, she heard noise from upstairs and knew Cal was up. She started the tea kettle and looked through the cabinets until she found his favorite tea.

When Cal walked into the kitchen, she handed him a cup. He looked at her gratefully as he accepted it and slid into a chair. "You've been here all day?"

"Yeah, where else would I be?"

"Don't you have your own home?" The dryer buzzed and Cal watched as she took the comforter from his bed and began to fold it. "Now what are you doing?"

"Your laundry."

Cal grumbled. "What the hell are you doing my laundry for?!"

Gillian's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Really?" At Cal's confused look, she shook her head. "Your bedroom smelled like the men's bathroom in a strip club!"

He looked down in dismay as he remembered urinating on himself in the middle of the night then vomiting when the feeling of the wetness woke him up. He was embarrassed and disgusted with himself when he looked up again. He started to apologize then blinked when he actually looked at the kitchen. "You cleaned in here too?"

"And the living room…you should probably get the carpeting steam cleaned but it should be all right for a few days."

Cal thought he remembered abandoning his bed and heading to sleep on the couch and he sighed. "I'll make an appointment tomorrow."

Gillian sighed. "Are you hungry, what can I make you?"

Cal chuckled derisively. "I don't think I have any food here, Luv."

"I went shopping," Gillian said as she opened the refrigerator. "Steak, chicken, ground beef, shrimp…do you want taco's or hamburgers, maybe some barbecue chicken..." She glanced back and saw he had actually paled at the mention of food. "Beans and toast?" she joked. Cal actually seemed interested in that and she rolled her eyes. "Beans and toast it is!"

Gillian popped the beans into the microwave and then bread into the toaster. Within a few minutes, she had set the bowl down in front of Cal.

Cal had just taken a mouthful when the back door opened.

"Hi Dad!" Emily sang out loudly as she ran into Cal's arms for a tight hug. "Hi Gillian!" she greeted warmly as she plopped in the chair next to her father.

Cal had winced at her loud tone but he quickly hid it when she slid in next to him. "Hello, Darling."

"Hi, Emily." Gillian smiled warmly she tried to get Emily to focus on her. "How was school?"

"Insane! My Mom told the principal she moved and when she gave her address we found out that it's in a different school district. He told her I'd have to transfer schools!"

Gillian's heart sank for the girl who was obviously very upset about the whole thing and Cal scowled angrily before he looked at his daughter sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Em."

"Why? It's not your fault Mom decided to move out…"

"Yeah, well, maybe it kind of is…maybe if I could have made her happier…"

"Dad!" Emily protested. "You're not the only person at fault here!"

Gillian nodded at the mature attitude Emily was showing. "She's right, Cal."

Emily opened the refrigerator and laughed as she took out an apple. "Wow, I thought for sure there'd be nothing for me to eat but you went shopping?!"

She walked into the living room and plopped down in the big lazy boy and turned on the television. "The house looks great, Dad!" she complimented as Cal carried his bowl of food into the living room and settled down on the sofa. "I mean, Mom said she thought for sure it would look like a tornado hit it and she said if it did she wasn't going to let me stay here but instead it looks like you gave it a good cleaning."

Cal looked gratefully at Gillian then looked back at Emily. "Yeah, well, you know, clean slate and all that…we need a fresh start, Em, just you and me."

Emily nodded as she tried to find the music video channel. "Well, I think Mom is going to talk to you about me staying here Monday night through Thursday night. That way I can stay in the same school."

"At's fine with me, Em, whatever your Mum decides, I'll make it work."

Gillian looked over at Emily as she smiled. "Your Dad cleaned his room today and was just about to start on your room when I came over to drop off some folders from work. I invited myself to stay for dinner but maybe I should leave since you'll be here."

Emily shook her head. "No, why don't you and I make dinner and Dad can go finish cleaning upstairs."

Gillian looked at Cal who nodded. "At's great, Em, thanks."

Cal wolfed down his small serving of beans and toast then went upstairs. He glanced at his bed and finding it newly made with fresh sheets, he slowly walked into the bathroom and sighed with relief. He stood in front of the mirror and slowly opened his eyes and blew out a long breath. Thanks to Gillian coming over when she did, cutting him off from drinking then letting him get a long rest, he looked half way human. His beard was pretty scraggly but he would have to deal with that later on.

He walked into Emily's room and grabbed all her sheets off the bed then headed downstairs.

"Leave them, Cal, I'll start the next load in a minute," Gillian said as she brought out steaks from the refrigerator.

Cal squeezed her arm gratefully then headed back upstairs with the vacuum. He made his way from bedroom to bedroom then down the hallway. By the time, he made it down the steps, Gillian and Emily could be heard laughing in the kitchen and having a great time.

Cal walked in and put the vacuum in the closet. "You two having fun?"

Gillian smiled at him as she looked closely into his eyes. He still looked tired but his color had returned and she knew he was going to be all right.

Emily slipped under his arm and hugged him warmly. "Yeah, Gillian was showing me how to tenderize steaks for the grill."

Cal kissed her forehead. "At's my girl; maybe you can start helping me now that you're getting older."

Emily smiled. "Well, I'm guessing most nights when I come home after school; I'll be the one starting dinner!"

Cal frowned when he realized he was going to have to put himself on a better schedule to make sure he was home with Emily. "We'll, see, Luv, maybe we can learn to use that crock pot thing your Mum bought me."

Gillian picked up the plate filled with steaks. "The grill should be ready by now, I'm going to go start these; do you want to get cleaned up for dinner?"

"Hey, I'm the grill master in this house!" Cal objected loudly as he took the plate from her and set it back down. He shoved up the sleeves of his shirt and started to wash his hands and smiled over at her. "Why don't you and Em start on that lovely salad you made?"

Gillian smirked at his new attitude as she relinquished control of dinner and sat down with Emily to enjoy her salad.

Emily ran a salad out to Cal and he ate it as he turned the steaks. He came back inside a few minutes later and set the perfectly cooked pieces on everyone's plates. "Medium for Em and rare for Foster and Dad."

Conversation was kept light and Emily had the two friends laughing at her funny stories of the kids at school. After dinner, Gillian started to clean the kitchen while Cal threw Emily's comforter in the dryer. He headed upstairs and put fresh sheets on Emily's bed and looked around the room satisfied that it was back in place.

He glanced at the bathroom but remembered he had just cleaned it the previous weekend and since no one had been using it, it was still clean. Cal headed downstairs again and Emily and Gillian had their heads together and were pouring over an Algebra problem. Gillian was sitting with her pencil in her hand and a piece of scratch paper trying to help Emily with the formulas.

Cal came over and stuck his tongue out. "Math! Ugh! I'll let Foster help you with that one Em, call me when you get down to English Lit."

He walked over to the refrigerator and dug behind some bags of frozen vegetables to find a half gallon container of mint chocolate chip ice cream. He grabbed three bowls and put a few scoops of ice cream into each bowl then brought it over and set it on the table next to them.

They each grabbed a bowl and Gillian sighed as she tasted the refreshing sweetness.

"Dad, do you have a calculator?"

Cal frowned. "I have no idea, Em, can't you use the one on your phone?"

Emily scowled. "I wish I had the one in my room."

"Well, go get it…" Cal pointed up the steps.

"It's at Mom's!"

Emily was angry at her life being interrupted and Cal leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "I'll pick one up tomorrow, Luv."

Gillian walked in from the office and handed one to Emily. "No worries, I had one in your Dad's office."

Emily smiled as she grabbed for it. "Thanks, Gillian, you're a lifesaver!"

Cal mouthed thank you to Gillian behind Emily's back. Gillian smiled at him then squeezed his arm and nodded towards the door.

"Hey, Em, if you're good with your homework, I need to head home."

"I've got it now, thanks for explaining that one formula to me…eight times!"

Gillian laughed as she patted the girl's shoulder. "Anytime, Em."

Cal walked Gillian to her car and sighed as she opened the door. "I don't know what to say, Foster."

Gillian shrugged. "You could try thanks!"

"It's not enough."

Gillian squeezed his arm. "Between friends it is."

Cal came around the side of her car and pulled her close for a hug. "Thanks, Gill."

Gillian patted his back then stepped away from him and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, after Em leaves for school."

Cal made it in to work the next day. He was clean shaven and Gillian was surprised that he put his nose to the grindstone and immediately got to work. The same routine happened on Friday but she noticed he hadn't shaved.

The long weekend came about and Cal was left alone for most of that time. Although he drank himself to sleep each night, he never got as bad as he was those first few days.

Monday morning rolled around and again Cal was at work and doing his job. By Thursday, Gillian realized he had worn the same shirt to work everyday that week and that although he was contributing to the work load, he was just going through the motions. Emotionally he was disconnected from everyone and everything.

It was months before he was fully recovered and one night he stayed late and teased her mercilessly about her take out dinner and she turned her head and smiled at him.

"I'm glad you're back."

Cal was laughing and looked at her with confusion. "What are you talking about Foster? I haven't gone anywhere?"

Gillian looked at him then nodded her head. "No, you hadn't gone anywhere but you still weren't here. Tonight…you're back."

Cal realized she was talking about his personality and he grew serious as he looked down and thought about what she said. He looked up and made a face then sighed as he grinned at her devilishly. "Here I thought you were hiding something in that icy bit of crap you're drinking!"

Gillian rolled her eyes as she got up from her desk. "You're impossible. Goodnight, Cal."

"Night, Luv."


	11. Chapter 11

_CHAPTER 11_

Cal and Emily fell into a routine. Emily practically lived with him except on weekends and even then, often came over home early on Sundays to do homework or get her stuff ready for school.

Cal and Zoe were civil to each other and spent birthdays and holidays as a family and tried to make the best of it for Emily's sake.

Things were going okay until one morning when Emily's world fell apart again.

Cal was just getting out of the shower when he heard a cry come from his daughter's room. He was drying off his face and frowned at the noise as he tried to make certain he had heard something. Puzzled he quickly threw the towel around his waist while he headed to her room.

"Em! Emily, are you all right?!"

The bathroom door was shut and Cal walked passed it and into her room. He glanced at the bed and noticed the sheets had a huge blood stain in the middle of them. Cal panicked and ran to the bathroom.

"Emily!"

"Go away!"

"Let me in!"

"I said go away!" she screamed loudly.

"Damn it, are you okay?! Emily!"

"Oh my God will you just leave me the hell alone?!"

Cal frowned as he realized she wasn't hurt then it slowly dawned on him what the blood stain meant. "Bloody hell!" he muttered as he ran for his cell phone.

He tried to call Zoe but kept getting her voice mail. He texted her and then thought about it for only the briefest second before he texted Gillian. "Em...period…help ASAP!"

Across town, Gillian was turning off the hair dryer when she heard a text come through. She glanced at it then groaned as she quickly typed. "Fifteen minutes."

She ran for her purse and was headed for the door when Alec stopped her. "What's going on?"

"Emily got her period last night and needs help."

Alec frowned. "Doesn't she have a mother to help with that?"

Gillian sighed. "Yeah, but I think Zoe's out of town right now and Cal could use my help."

"Of course he could." Alec said flatly.

Gillian looked at him angrily. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Cal Lightman calls and you go running!"

"Cal Lightman doesn't need my help but his thirteen year old daughter does and I'm not going to let Emily suffer because her mother's an idiot and her father doesn't know the first damn thing about feminine products!"

Gillian slammed out the door then raced to the pharmacy closest to Cal's house. Ten minutes later, she knocked on his door.

"Thank God, Foster. Look, I dug in the sink of my bathroom and Zoe had these things called tampons but isn't that those things that go..." Cal motioned with his hand as his face paled and he swore.

"Yeah, they are and we won't go there. Where's Emily?"

"In the bathroom upstairs, she won't come out and she screams at me if I try to talk to her."

Gillian patted his arm comfortingly. "Welcome to the joys of having a teenage daughter!"

She headed upstairs and noticed the blood stain on the bed sheets. She quickly stripped them and handed them to Cal. "Get these soaking in the laundry, then get fresh sheets on the bed."

Cal ran to do as he was told as Gillian knocked lightly on the door. "Hey Em, it's me."

"Gillian?!"

"Yeah!"

Emily quickly unlocked the door and sat back on the toilet. Gillian could tell she was mortified and sat down on the edge of the tub near here.

"I can't believe he called you."

Gillian patted Emily's knee comfortingly. "He was worried about you."

"What did he tell you?"

"That you got your period and he needed my help."

"So he knows?"

"I think he figured it out…"

"Gross!"

"Emily, men know that women get their period every month, and even though they try to pretend it doesn't exist, they do know it happens! I take it this is your first one?"

"Yes."

"Well…what's your mom told you about it?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "All the clinical stuff but we never really got into the gory details."

"Okay…gory details…I guess that's my department today!" Gillian laughed to try to lighten the mood as she reached for the bag from the pharmacy. She took out each product and explained its uses then showed Emily how to dispose of the dirty.

Emily listened intently then Gillian excused herself so Emily could take care of her personal needs. She was sitting on the edge of the bed when Emily came out.

Emily sat down next to her and sighed. "Thanks, Gillian. If it wasn't for you, I'd be in the bathroom for the next week."

Gillian pushed some strands of hair away from Emily's face and noticed she was pale. "Stomach hurts huh?"

"Yeah," Emily admitted.

"I have some pills you can take exclusively for that but you can take regular over the counter pain medication too. Why don't we ask your Dad if it's all right for you to take something?"

Emily blushed but swallowed hard and nodded. "Okay."

Gillian had her arm around Emily's shoulders when they came down from upstairs. Cal sighed with relief when they walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, Foster, you want some breakfast? I'm just cooking up some scrambled eggs here for me and Em."

"Sure Cal, thanks, um…Emily isn't allergic to any kinds of medication is she, I brought some medicine for…"

Cal waved his hand dismissively. "No…no…she's a good little trouper aren't you Em? Not much makes her sick, give her whatever she needs."

Emily closed her eyes with relief that he had taken this so lightly and wasn't going to get into a big discussion about it.

Gillian handed her the pills and the three settled down for a quick meal. Emily finished first and Gillian was cleaning up the dishes when Emily called her back upstairs.

She asked her questions about what to do at school and Gillian gave her pointers on how to take care of everything. At Emily's request, she jotted a quick note to the gym teacher as well explaining why Emily needed to be excused from gym class for the next few days and signed it Dr. Foster.

Emily raced out the door with her book bag.

Gillian walked into the kitchen as Cal's phone rang.

"Yeah, thank God you called back so quickly," Cal muttered sarcastically into the phone.

"I was in a breakfast conference, Cal."

"Our daughter got her period today and needed your help!"

Zoe sighed. "Let me talk to her!"

"Now?! You want to talk to her now?! Why the hell haven't you already bloody well talked to her about all this?!"

"I haven't had the chance, Cal, just let me handle this!"

"That's okay, I called Foster and she handled it _**she**_ took care of Emily for me."

Gillian's heart sank as she realized Cal just gave Zoe yet another reason to hate her. She didn't hear what Zoe said but Cal shouted loudly.

"Yeah, well, thank God Em has someone to rely on, go back to your bloody conference!"

Cal hung up the phone and spun around as he slammed the phone on the counter.

Gillian picked up her purse and smiled feebly. "I'll see you at work?"

Cal ran his hand down his face with exasperation as he tried to control his racing emotions. "Foster…thank you…again! I swear I don't know what I'd do without you as a friend."

It was quiet at work that day and Emily came to the office after school. She holed herself up in Gillian's office until Cal came back into the building.

"Hey, Luv."

"Hi, Dad," Emily replied tentatively.

"You ready to head home?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go then, see ya later Foster."

Cal threw his arm around Emily as they walked towards the car. After they walked into the house, Cal set his keys on the table and Emily started to head upstairs.

"Hey, Em?" Cal motioned as he made his way into the living room and sat on the sofa.

"Yeah," Emily said nervously as she sat down next to him.

Cal looked down at the floor. "Em, what happened this morning kind of scared me."

Emily had blushed but at his words she turned curious. "Scared you?! You should think about how I felt!"

Cal smiled weakly. "I can't imagine how you felt but I know I was petrified…mostly cause you shut me out, Em."

Emily started to explain and Cal pulled her to his side as he held her close. "Not yet, Darling, let me finish…look…I know that there is going to be loads of embarrassing stuff that happens in our lives but you have to know that no matter what happens or what you do I'll always love you, I'll always be here for you and I want you to be able to tell me anything and know that I won't judge you."

Emily looked up at him then laid her head on his chest. "Really?!"

Cal chuckled. "Well, I may not like it but I know you're a girl and gonna have all that icky girl stuff happening and today, you stopped being my little girl and became a young woman."

Emily wrinkled her nose. "Whoopee!"

Cal squeezed her to his chest. "Yeah, well, your Mum can help with all that stuff and in an emergency like today, you always have Gillian but in an _**extreme**_ emergency, and I mean…like there's not another living woman in the world around to ask, you can come to me and I'll try and figure it out!"

Emily laughed at him. "Deal!"

Cal kissed her cheek. "I love you, Em!"

"I love you too, Dad!"

"Scoot, I'll start dinner."

Emily raced up the steps and started her homework. A short while later, Cal called her down for dinner and life continued on as normal.


	12. Chapter 12

_**CHAPTER 12**_

Over the course of the next few years, Gillian and Alec tried to conceive. Alec seemed to think it would happen when it happened but much to his chagrin, Gillian dragged him to countless appointments to try to figure out why it hadn't happened yet.

The doctor's results were always the same. Both of them passed their tests with flying colors and there was no medical reason why Gillian wasn't pregnant yet.

The last doctor they saw suggested to them that their stress levels may be a contributing factor. He advised them to take a two week vacation and relax on the beach somewhere and let nature takes its course.

One afternoon, Alec stopped by The Lightman Group to see how Gillian was doing.

Earlier that morning, Gillian had come into the kitchen crying hysterically as she rushed into his arms, Alec automatically pulled her closer then asked what was wrong. Gillian explained that she had woken that morning and gotten her period. Alec knew she was devastated that another month had gone by and she had failed to conceive.

"Honey, we'll just keep trying…" he whispered.

Gillian leaned back and looked into his eyes then frowned when she saw "relief" flash across his face.

"You're relieved I'm not pregnant!"

"What? Honey, no!"

"I saw it, Alec! You're happy I'm not pregnant!"

"That's not true, Gill, I'm sorry another month has gone by and I'm sorry you're not pregnant but I have a huge meeting to get to and I just don't have time to deal with this right now!"

Gillian knew he was lying. "Then by all means…get to your meeting!" She shook her head as she whirled around and locked herself in the bathroom.

Alec pounded loudly on the door. "Come on, Gill, open up."

Silence met him and he sighed as he lightly touched the door. "Look, I've got to go, we'll talk about this tonight…I love you, honey!"

Gillian looked at herself in the mirror and closed her eyes against the tone in his voice. When she opened them slowly, she looked away and allowed her brain to convince herself that Alec was indeed devastated that she wasn't pregnant; he was just unable to deal with those emotions right now.

Gillian went into work and Cal knew something was wrong. At least twice a year, she had to remind him that he needed to respect "the line" she had drawn and today was another one of those days.

Cal frowned and walked away from her then sat with Loker all day in the lab.

At lunch, Alec stopped by to see Gillian. He walked into her office with a smile.

"Alec! What's wrong?!" Gillian asked immediately.

"Just came to have lunch with my wife."

Gillian smiled curiously at him. "Really? You never have lunch with me…"

Alec shrugged. "Well, today will be a first then…"

Gillian giggled as she grabbed her purse. "Just let me go to the bathroom first…"

She left and Alec walked around her office to pass the time. Cal walked in and looked over at him.

"Alec."

"Cal."

The two men shook hands and Cal nodded towards the door. "Gillian's been out of sorts lately, any idea what it's about?"

"I'm her husband, of course I do."

Cal looked at him pointedly as he waited for Alec to continue. When Alec didn't speak, Cal held up his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, I get it, she's a friend and I was worried about her, that's all."

Alec's eyes narrowed as he looked back at Cal. "If Gillian hasn't mentioned what's wrong then maybe it's because it's none of your business…maybe you two aren't as close as you think you are…"

Cal's hands tightened into fists as he held them at his sides and tried to control his sudden anger.

Alec watched Cal's reaction and realizing he had the chance to put Cal in his place, moved closer to him. "In fact, I'm not sure if this partnership you have with my wife is such a good idea anymore."

Cal sighed. "What are you trying to say, Alec?"

"Gillian's under a lot of stress and I think she and I will have a talk this weekend about what we can do to get back to a simpler life, if that means dissolving this partnership with you than so be it…"

Cal took the threat and rolled it around in his mind.

Gillian walked into the room all smiles. "Hi Cal, Alec stopped by to surprise me and take me out to lunch."

"At's nice…"

"Did you need something?" Gillian wondered.

"No, it can wait."

Gillian wondered why he was in her office but quickly determined he wasn't going to tell her yet so she slipped her arm through Alec's and let him lead her out to the car.

They had a wonderful lunch that lasted over two hours. Gillian was in her glory that Alec had taken time from his busy day to spend this time with her. She felt silly for her earlier outburst and she felt like her marriage was getting back on track.

Alec handed the waiter his credit card then reached for his phone which had started vibrating. He checked the messages and sighed. "I have to go out of town…"

"When?"

"Tonight…"

"Alec…"

"I know…I know…but its not like anything is going to happen right…I mean…you have your period and all…" he whispered as he leaned forward. "I'll be back before the weekend then we'll have all weekend to practice making babies…" he suggested as he wagged his eyebrows suggestively.

Gillian giggled and nodded. "Yeah."

Alec drove her back to work and leaned over and kissed her goodbye.

"Be careful, call me when you land," Gillian reminded.

"I will, love you, babe," Alec said as she leaned over.

"Love you too."

Alec drove off and Gillian back to work and buried herself in paperwork again.

She didn't realize it was so late until Cal came into her office.

"You heading home soon?" he asked.

Gillian startled as she looked up from the computer screen. "Um…yeah…"

Cal shoved his hands into his pockets and stepped forward worriedly.

Gillian frowned at his mood. "What is it, Cal?"

Cal sighed heavily as he slouched in the chair in front of her. "I was just wondering if you have something you need to tell me…"

Gillian frowned and searched her mind. "No…not that I can recall…"

"Oh."

"Cal, what's this about, have I done something wrong?"

"No but according to Alec, I have."

"Alec? What does he have to do with this?"

"He told me today that you were thinking of dissolving our partnership…"

"He said what?" Gillian asked, shock clearly showing on her face.

"He said that the stress was too much for you and that you and he were going to discuss your leaving here…"

Gillian blinked then shook her head. "Why would he say something like that?"

Cal shrugged. "I told him that I was worried about you…that you hadn't seemed like yourself lately…"

Gillian closed her eyes and sighed as she opened them slowly. "I'm sorry you were worried."

"You're my best friend, Gill."

"And you're mine," Gillian smiled then grew serious as she leaned back in her chair. "Alec and I have been trying for awhile now to have a baby." Tears pooled in her eyes as she looked around the room. "We've gone through some tests and the doctors say that there's no reason that I'm not pregnant." Cal nodded as she continued. "It was suggested that Alec and I are both under a lot of stress and that may be contributing to our lack of success."

"So, your quitting here is a way to relieve your stress?"

"No, Alec and I never discussed that and my job isn't that stressful. I promise you, Cal, I have no plans on leaving here anytime soon. When I finally have the baby, I may take a few extra weeks off then come back in part time with the baby until it gets on schedule but I don't anticipate being gone more than a few months."

Cal felt a wave of relief wash over him. "Well, whatever I can do to help…"

Gillian smiled. "I'll keep that in mind."

Weeks slowly turned into months.

Each month Gillian went through the whole grieving process and unknown to everyone else, Cal actually started to keep track of her periods so he would have some kind of idea of when she was going to be unapproachable.

It had been almost eighteen months and Gillian never came in and announced her pregnancy. Then one day, she burst into his office.

"Cal!"

"What?!" Cal gasped in surprise then laughed when he saw her face lit up. "I take it you've had good news?"

"The best! Guess what it is?!"

Cal shrugged. "You're pregnant!"

Gillian's face flashed sorrow but then excitement again. "Kind of…"

Cal frowned as he shook his head. "Foster, I don't think it's possible to be kind of pregnant."

Gillian rolled her eyes at him. "When Alec and I weren't successful, we signed up to try to adopt. A young girl met with the agency and picked us from a lineup of other couples. We met her over the weekend and she is going to let us adopt her baby."

Cal smiled at the excited look on Gillian's face. "At's great, Luv, congratulations!"

The two friends hugged warmly.

"So when are you turning our office upside down?"

"The girl is in her eighth month, so we only have a few weeks to get ready."

"Wow, that's fast."

"It seems like we've been waiting forever."

Cal nodded. "Well, take as much time off as you need just don't forget about us, yeah?"

Gillian smiled at him and reached out to touch his arm. "Really, Cal, how could I forget about…" she hesitated and stopped herself from saying 'you' as she knew it would be inappropriate and she looked quickly around the office. "…this place? It's my home away from home. I love working here, Cal, I love my job."

"You'll love your baby even more…I would give up this place in a minute if Emily needed me to."

"That's because you're a wonderful father."

Cal rolled his eyes as he thought of the fight he and Emily had this morning about a shirt she wanted to wear to school. "I'm not so sure about that…"

"I can only hope that Alec and I are able to raise our baby to be the kind of person Emily is turning out to be…Cal, she's a wonderful young lady, you should be proud."

"I am, thanks."

The phone rang and Gillian walked over to answer it while Cal shoved his hands in his pockets and waited. When he realized it was Alec calling her, he waved goodbye to her and went back to his office.

Twenty minutes later, Gillian called out to him from the hallway.

"Cal, are you ready?"

Cal shot to his feet and walked into the hallway. "Yeah."

"You didn't have to wait for me."

"Seeing as it's late, I didn't want you to walk out alone."

Gillian slipped her hand through his elbow as they walked towards their cars. "That's sweet, thanks, I'll be late tomorrow morning, Alec and I are going to shop for furniture for the nursery."

"At's great, get a jump on getting things set up for the little one."

"Yeah," they arrived at her car and Gillian squeezed his arm in appreciation. "So I'll see you later tomorrow morning…"

"Goodnight." Cal said as he waited for her to get inside before walking over to his own car. He followed behind her to the point she was less than a mile from home.

Gillian knew he could see her outline in the car so she raised her hand and waved at him. He flashed his lights at her and took the next turn that would lead him to his own home. She smiled as she thought about how thoughtful he was to make sure she got home safely.

She frowned as she wondered exactly why he and Zoe hadn't been able to make it work. Although there were times he was a handful, she knew Cal was a very caring person and had given it his all to try to make it work not only for Emily but himself as well. She frowned and wondered what exactly it was that had made Zoe start to distance herself to the point they finally divorced.

Gillian stopped all thoughts of them as she turned into her driveway and pulled up next to Alec's car. She grabbed her purse and raced into the house then leapt into her husband's arms. "Hi Daddy!" she gushed excitedly.

Alec blanched for a second then hugged his wife warmly. "Hi Mommy!"

She pulled back and her face was lit with excitement. "Thanks for taking some time off tomorrow morning; I can't wait to pick up the furniture. Do you think we could pick up some paint at the hardware store? I'd like to paint the nursery this weekend and get the carpets cleaned…"

Alec sighed inwardly at the full weekend of chores she had planned out but nodded enthusiastically. "Sure, honey, whatever you want."

An hour and a half later, Alec could feel his patience slipping away. He looked down at the shopping cart filled with painting supplies and added up the cost before he glanced at Gillian. She was standing in front of the paint samples and had been staring at the same two strips for twenty minutes.

Alec ran a hand over his face. "Gill?"

"Hmmm…"

"I have to work tomorrow…" he hinted.

Oblivious of his sour mood, Gillian smiled at him. "You'd better get used to not sleeping because our baby is going to be waking every few hours throughout the night for at least a month…"

Alec cringed at the upheaval in their lifestyle but clamped down on an angry retort. "What's the choices?" he asked looking down at the two slips in her hands.

Gillian stepped forward and showed him. "Beige or Eggshell."

Alec gasped when he looked down. "They're the same color!"

"No they're not!"

"Gillian, they're the same Goddamn color!"

Gillian gasped in disbelief. "I just want it to be perfect!"

Tears had formed in her eyes and Alec felt guilty. "I know, I'm sorry, I'm just so tired and…look…I like the eggshell…which one do you like better?"

Gillian sniffed back her tears. "The eggshell."

Alec walked over and grabbed the appropriate can and put it in the cart then kissed Gillian. "Okay, we've got everything, let's get home, okay?"

They went home and that weekend cleaned the entire apartment to hospital standards. Alec was exhausted and couldn't wait until Monday but Gillian was a bundle of energy and went shopping with her mother for the bed linen and some clothing.

Monday night came and Gillian was lying in bed snuggled up to Alec's side. "Honey, do you think we should start looking for a house?"

"Hmmm?"

"A house, Alec…should we start looking for a house? You know, investigate good school districts…"

"School dist…geez, Gill. The kid isn't even born yet," Alec griped.

Gillian frowned. "Well five years is going to fly by and in no time at all he or she will be going to school. I think it's important that we gather as much information as we can so we don't make a bad choice."

"Whatever you want, honey," Alec said as he rolled over to face the other way.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing…I'm….I'm just really tired, goodnight."

"Goodnight, honey."

Gillian was able to overlook all of Alec's indifference to the coming event, she convinced herself that once their baby was finally home they would be able to form the necessary bond to become a real family.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Gillian positively glowed. When she picked up the baby girl, she took a few days off then had a long weekend home to adjust. Monday morning, Cal walked in to find a radiant but tired looking partner holding a bright pink bundle.

"Who is that?" he grinned.

Gillian rushed to him and pulled back the blanket. "My daughter Sophie."

Cal grinned and caressed the little girl's cheek. "She's beautiful, Luv. Congratulations."

"I am so happy; I'm still waiting to wake up from the dream."

Cal kissed her cheek. "You look tired. Little one keeping you up all night?"

"Well…she's making it about three hours."

"At's pretty good, Gill, she'll be on a schedule in no time, you'll see."

"Thanks, Cal."

Little Sophie was soon making the rounds through the office and throughout the day everyone had held her for a period of time.

As usual, Emily showed up after school and ran through the office. "Where is she?!"

"Bloody slow down, Em, what are you shouting about?" Cal asked.

"Sophie! Where is she?"

"How the hell do I know, probably with her mum."

Emily ran down the hall to Gillian's office and peaked her head in. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," Gillian smiled warmly.

Emily came over and nodded towards the crib and Gillian rolled her eyes as she nodded. "Yes, you can pick her up; it's almost time for her bottle anyway."

"Can I feed her?" Emily asked eagerly.

Gillian sighed, she had barely held Sophie all day but she knew the newness of the situation would wear off so she nodded. "Sure, let me just go warm up her bottle."

Gillian left the room and Emily gently pulled back the cover and gasped. "Oh my gosh, you are so little!"

Cal had followed her to Gillian's office. "Easy, Em, support her head when you pick her up."

Emily looked scared and Cal smiled as he walked over and took her hands. "Here, slip your hand under her head first then the other one under her bum and bring her to your chest."

Emily did as he instructed and her eyes were wide. "She's so precious."

Cal grinned. "Yeah, all babies are…until they turn into teenagers."

Gillian chuckled as she walked passed Cal and handed Emily the bottle. "Here you go, Em." Emily took the bottle as Gillian turned to Cal. "Did you need something?"

Cal shrugged. "Nope, I just wanted to…um…"

Emily's phone went off and she looked at it. "It's Amber!"

Cal rolled his eyes. "Give me Sophie then and take the call."

Gillian frowned with surprise then watched Cal sit down and proceed to feed Sophie with ease. She realized he had wanted to hold her all along but didn't want anyone else to know it. He seemed lost in Sophie's eyes as he cooed to her then gently put her across her shoulder to pat her back and elicit a tiny burp. "At's a good girl," he whispered as he brought her back against his chest and continued to feed her.

Gillian cocked her head to the side. "You're a great Dad, Cal. Why didn't you and Zoe have more kids?"

Emily walked into the room. "Are you kidding me, Mom barely had time for me!"

Cal tried to look away to hide his sadness but Gillian had seen it and knew he would have loved to have had more kids and that Zoe was obviously the one who prevented them.

"Can I feed her now?" she asked Cal.

"What, until the next phone call? You've obviously inherited your parenting skills from your mother. She's not a sack of potatoes, Em. You can't be upsetting her when something better comes along."

Emily looked embarrassedly at Gillian. "I'm sorry…I wasn't thinking…"

Gillian nodded towards the bottle. "That's okay, she's finished anyway so now it's time to play."

Cal rolled his eyes as he handed Emily the baby with a warning. "Not rough or she'll be puking that bottle all over you."

"Okay," Emily said as she sat down in the chair and talked sweetly to Sophie.

At the look on Gillian's face, Cal shot to his feet. "All right then, back to work!"

He left as abruptly as he had come and Emily giggled. "He really wanted to hold her."

"I know."

"My alarm went off at the perfect time."

Gillian cocked her head and looked at her curiously. "You didn't get a phone call?"

"Nope! I knew he wouldn't ask so when the alarm went off …"

"You used the opportunity to let your Dad hold Sophie?"

"Yep!"

"You're a great kid, Em!"

"I know!"

Two short months later, tragedy struck and the birth mom changed her mind and came back to claim Sophie as her own again.

Gillian was devastated and took the long weekend to recover. On Monday when she came back, Cal and thoughtfully had all traces of Sophie removed from her office and things slowly went back to normal.


	13. Chapter 13

_CHAPTER 13_

 **HOW IT SHOULD HAVE ENDED**

Alec and Gillian's marriage never quite got back on track after the loss of Sophie.

Gillian tried everything she could to please him then realized they had just drifted too far apart to bridge the chasm between them. When she discovered Alec had gone back to using drugs again, she made the ultimate decision to leave him and moved out of their house and into her own apartment.

Cal had been secretly following Alec for weeks and had suspected he was cheating on Gillian. He was shocked to find out he was back to using drugs again and relieved that Gillian had the strength to walk away from the explosive situation. It wasn't long before her divorce was final and Cal watched from afar as she began to date.

Over the next few months, their flirting began to rise and both of them danced back and forth across "the line."

One particular night, Cal had gone to bed chuckling about their latest volley of suggestive remarks. His dreams took him back a few weeks ago when he and Gillian were in a middle of an investigation _._

 _They were pretending to be a married couple making an adult video for their anniversary. Gillian looked at him and he knew instantly that she wanted him to kiss her. Wanting to make it believable, she reached up and held Cal's cheek as she deepened their kisses. Their kisses escalated further and when Cal leaned back they had been transported to the couch in her living room._

 _Gillian suddenly stood and slipped off her slinky negligee to stand completely naked in front of Cal._

 _._

 _Cal took a deep breath when she reached for his hand and tugged on it. "Bedroom," she ordered as Cal shot to his feet to comply._

 _Gillian quickly stepped forward and slipped his shirt over his head then leaned against him so he could feel her breasts against his naked chest._

 _Cal groaned and held her tightly as he caressed his hands down her back._

 _Gillian shot him a coy smile and knowing he would follow turned and walked to the bedroom._

 _A few minutes later, he was buried within her and bringing them racing to the end._

Upon completion, Cal shot up in bed. "Bloody hell!" he gasped as he rubbed his hand roughly down his face. He looked down in disgust at the front of his soiled underwear. "Great! What am I, a bloody thirteen year old?!"

Cal walked into his bathroom and quickly showered and as he was drying off he looked up at his reflection in the mirror. "What the hell just happened?" he mumbled. His mind was clouded as he tried to come to terms with the feelings he had for Gillian.

He walked back to the bed and sat on the edge then glanced at the clock. He still had time for two more hours of sleep but knowing he would never settle down, he got dressed and headed into the office.

He was surprised to see Gillian's car in the parking lot and he headed in and straight to her office.

"Good morning, Darling."

"Hi, Cal."

"You're here early…"

Gillian smiled weakly then shrugged as she blinked back tears. "Claire's funeral is today…"

Cal frowned as he stepped forward at the reminder. "Yeah, I know, that's why I came early. I thought maybe you'd like it if I went with you…"

Gillian knew he was lying and rolled her eyes to show him she knew he was lying. "You don't have to…"

"I know…" Cal interrupted but looked at her knowingly. "But I want to…"

Gillian took a deep breath and nodded. "Honestly, Cal, that would be great, I could use your support."

"You'll always have it."

"I know."

Cal turned to walk to his office when Gillian stopped him. "Why are you really here so early?"

Cal thought about his dream and grinned as he wagged his eyebrows suggestively. "Dreamt about you, Luv and woke up with a…"

Gillian held up hand up to stop him. "Nevermind, I shouldn't have asked!"

She looked back at her ledger but Cal could see her hiding a smile.

He grinned as he walked to his office.

Later that day, he and Gillian were standing in a small crowd of people paying their respects to Claire. Gillian was especially quiet and Cal reached for her hand and squeezed it lightly.

As the priest began to speak, Gillian started to cry and Cal put his hand on the small of her back. Gillian leaned against him and Cal slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

With tear filled eyes, Gillian smiled weakly at him. "Thanks for being here."

"You're welcome." Cal whispered as he kissed her temple.

After the service, Cal held Gillian's hand as they made their way to his car.

"Back to work?" Cal asked after Gillian was seated.

"Where's Emily tonight?"

Cal blinked in surprise at the question then frowned as he thought. "With her Mum at some Mother/daughter painting class then they're heading to Zoe's parent's house tomorrow."

"Can you take me home?"

"Sure, Darling."

Cal parked in Gillian's spot at her apartment complex. He walked her to the door and smiled.

"You all right then?"

"Yeah but I was wondering if you wanted to come in for awhile?"

Cal shrugged indifferently. "Sure."

Gillian led the way and Cal locked up and followed her.

"Wine? Scotch? Beer?"

"Scotch is good."

Gillian walked into the kitchen and grabbed the bottle and two glasses then headed into her living room. Cal was seated on the couch and had already turned on the television.

Gillian handed him a glass and they watched the news together in silence then the next few comedy shows.

They had finished their third glass of scotch when Cal wondered if her continued silence meant he was overstaying his welcome.

"I should probably get going, yeah?"

"Can you stay here?"

Cal nodded as he saw fear click briefly on her face. "Sure, Luv, I'll stay as long as you like."

His heart skipped a beat when she took a deep breath and looked over at him. "I meant with me…stay here _with_ me."

"Well, I wouldn't stay here _without_ you…" Cal chuckled.

Gillian couldn't tell if he was deliberately misunderstanding her or if she wasn't making herself clear. "I mean with me… _ **with me**_ …"

Cal blinked in surprise. "Foster are you asking me to…"

"Yes!"

"Darling…are you sure?"

"Yes!"

Cal groaned and ran his hand over his face and Gillian cringed at his apparent reluctance. "Look, the past couple months have been…and I thought we…I mean…I guess I thought that….Cal…I'm sorry if I read more into this than there is…"

Gillian got up and started to head to her bathroom when Cal shot to his feet and grabbed for her arm. He spun her around and gathered her in his arms and kissed her with all the passion he had pent up inside of him.

Gillian melted in his arms. Realizing he had felt the same way about her, she started to unbutton the front of his shirt. Cal ripped it off and buttons flew everywhere. In seconds he had his t-shirt off over his head. Gillian pushed him against the wall and he slipped his hands around her back and slipped her zipper down her back. Gillian quickly let the dress slip from her arms to pool at her feet.

Cal suddenly stopped and pulled away. "Gill, should we be talking about this?"

Gillian rolled her eyes and gently pushed him towards her bedroom door. "No talking…more kissing…"

"Gill!"

Gillian stopped and looked him squarely in the eye. "Cal, we've been dancing back and forth across the line for months and we both want this to happen!"

"Yeah but…"

"Cal! We can make this work…we're best friends and if we've "read" each other correctly we're clearly in love…"

Cal kissed her then backed up and sighed as he kept his forehead pressed to hers. "I do love you, Gillian…"

"And I you…so can we please stop pretending?"


End file.
